The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-21
PROTECTING HEATH
 OF THE CHILDREN
McLester Outlines Work in Bir.
 mingham Schools
SYSTEM OF EXAMINATION
About 15 Per Cent of the Pupils Suffer From Defective Vision and IF Per- Cent From Enlarged Ton
 sils or Adenoids

| 30. just submitted to the Board of Edu- description of the system now in use to protect and care for the health of the children of Birmingham.
 He states that about 15 per cent of the children were found to suffer from de- fective vision, F per cent from enlarged tonsils. adenoids or both, ? to per cent partially deaf. Pallor and bad nutrition sufficiently marked to require attention were noted in per cent of the pupils.
 pr. McLester declares that while the city employs but one medical inspector, he really has 800 assistants, as the teach CTS have become valuable and increas- ingly expert assistants. The Board of Education has recently employed two school nurses for the department, who follow the defective children to their homes and make desirable recommenda- tions to the parents. Here is the report in full:
 ''Dr. J. H. Phillips. Superintendent Bir-
 mngham Public Schools, Birmingham,
 Ala:
 Dear Sir-While teachers and physi- clans have for a long time understood and appreciated the value of medical in spection of schools, the public has of fered little encouragement and has seemed uninterested in this phase of school work. For this reason it is per- haps not out of place for me to explain briefly our aims.
 I've take it that the states appropria- ton of such large part of its revenue for the public schools is in the nature of an investment That through the schools more intelligent, better trained and more desirable citizens are produced, and that a richer, happier nation is the result
 "We must not assume. however, that education means merely mental gymnas- ties, for this is simply one part of a very broad subject The mental pro- cesses which the school Is designed to develop and train are too intimately de- pendent upon physiological functions for the purely physical to be ignored. The Greeks endeavored to educate both the mental and the physical man, and we have come to recognize that it is only through the training of both that proper education can be secured. The highest and strongest mental processes can take place only in a body all of whose or gans most closely approximate the nor nal. G. Stanley Hall is quoted as say ing that every thought tends toward a muscular response and that no thought Is possible without previous sensory im- pression. This being true, how impor- tant it is that the same authority which attempts to train a child's thought should first satisfy itself that the sensory or gans designed to receive impressions are closely as possible.
 The office of teacher should be CO., ordinated with that of one who is fitted to appreciate the child's physical cond- ton. It is because the work of medical inspector is thus closely allied with that of the teacher that we hold that medical inspection of the school is an integral part of the educational rather than the sanitary or health system of the community.
 '"rhe school physician has, roughly | speaking, three duties:
 
 must have his constant attention. Ven tiiation, heating, plumbing. and the de- | sign of seats and desks, and the suita- bility of playgrounds should be studied | by him.
 "2. The detection of contagious dis eases and the exclusion of children suf- fering from such diseases is the oldest and by some considered the most impor- tant function of this office, since by their Q a rIxy rppnpDifiOn contagion is prevented and an epidemic is frequently averted. The ordinary in- fectious diseases of childhood are those which require most attention, but in ad- dition contagious skin and scalp diseases must be recognized, and no child unpro- tected by vaccination should be allowed to enter school.
 ''3. A higher, and believe more impor- tant, function of merical inspection is that of recognizing the defective child, for experience and observation have shown that a large percentage of school children suffer from certain physical de- fleets, which are easily recognizable and | can be corrected if early treatment is in- | stituted. If, however. they are allowed | to persist, the general health of the child | is impaired, his mental and physical de- | velopment is retarded, and the teacher s 1 efforts are to a certain extent fruitless. Children with defective eyes are most | important in number. The pupils whose vision permits him to read only with diff | fculty is greatly handicapped. He does not understand that the trouble is with | his eyes; he feels only that it Is diff | ficult for him to study, and that he doesn't like it, he falls behind and gets | the credit of being lazy or backward. Then, perhaps realizing that he cannot keep up with the rest of his class, to whom study is easier, he is discour- aged and becomes a truant. On the other hand, he is, perhaps. highly ambi- | tious and conscientious, and studies hard | in spite of the great nervous effort re- | quired, in which case he becomes ir- | rtable and a nervous wreck, suffering with constant headaches. But, correct | this childs vision and you may make a bright. attentive pupil of him.
 Enlarged tonsils and adenoids inevit- | ably handicap the child since these growths obstruct the nasal passages and force the child to breathe through his mouth causing constant air hunger and seriously retarding, his physical and men, tai development. The open mouth and dull, listless expression of child witt | adenoids is characteristic and unmistak. able, and 1t Is wonderful to observe tho rapid and remarkable change for tho better in the pupils disposition, mental ity and physical condition after remov ing the adenoids. The full effect of sucl
 a physical handicap as defective visior or adenoids upon childs sensitive mora nature as well as mental development can best be understood by one who ha:
 observed the remarkable change in dis position which often occurs in the adult
 who has been noted for his amability | when a physical disability, such as hear or kidney disease, developes.