Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-10-08
CONDITIONS
IN CITY SCHOOLS PERIL
HEALTH Of THOUSANDS

with opposing remedies being Of
tered in official circles Tuesday. the
.ssr-1 of thousands of Atlanta school
.afr5ren is being undermined every
ssv in the public schools; they are
forced 70 do their work-some sort of
work. good work either by the chill
sr-- or the teachers, is out of the
.rastion-by conditions so disgrace
..H as 10 be almost unbelievable, in
che a7iufon Of all the school authori-
aes
Every school in the city is so
lacked with humanity that there is
scarcely breathing room. Forced to
sir SO and 80 in a room that should
~r. hv all the laws of ventilation and
.-riane. accommodate more than 40
.r So at the most, they breathe over
and over again foul air laden with
o5fsunous human products; they sit
rg3lled up on benches and cigar
a,ye- and soap boxes, without desks,
tFe-r little backs literally breaking
araer the strain: they are packed
like sardines into Easements OF
schools next door to the toilets, in a
manner that would shame the con-
rasre5 East Side district of New
York. they are dumped wholesale in
rented cottages, in dark, low-ceil-
.rgal rooms that are improperly ar
ranged and ventilated, and were
rever INTENDED for school purposes.
According to Or. w. B. Daley, pres.
#apnt NJ the Board of Education, ii is
40 because the City Council. at its
last January meeting when the school
ludget was made up. failed to antici-
nate and provide for the natural
growth If the city and its attendant
growth in school attendance. Before
last wears term of school ended ii
was apparent that the present build
ing- were going to be inadequate TO
accommodate next years attendance;
The need Of new buildings and addi-
r1raI facilities was pressing and no.
gne4HNr. But nothing was done.
Pave Way for Detectives,
Those who are to blame for the
L.n. ~ accommodations for the chill
rAla charge Of contributing to the
delinquency of 10000 little boys and
.H1--.n that they have paved the
..- .a- 10000 mental detectives and
#.H0 ~iekly, stunted little bodies and
ua.n discouraged little souls.
tatIGren above all things require
fresh mir and proper surroundings to
60 rrcir best work. or any kind OF
work 1t ali, take that away from
'Eaw and they wither like 2 flower
that is denied water.
II hard to believe that 90 little
hUmm beings could be shut up in a
rllm 81 feet by 10 feet-but it is the
truth. Il is hard to believe that Is
!1tIe boys and girls are forced to sit
for hours at a time on hard, straight
backed benches with their hats and
IgncHes crowded in beside them, with
no place 10 write, and dumped in a
Arner Of an assembly hall and hid
Zen behind a screen-but il is the
ruth =0Ts HTr' e''s
The effect 'pf this sort of thing is
noticeable at a glance to anyone who
wild take the trouble TO look. The
Iinched. unharnv faces of the chill
dren point like an accusing finger;
they are restless, they can not con-
nentratc their attention on anything
for more than a few moments at a
time, and they groan with the strain
of sitting for hours stiff as a ramrod
With nothing on which to rest their
arms
Books, lunches and hats they must
lod i'm their hands or lay them on
Their seats beside them, and they are
packed i'm SO closely that they must
SIT in one position practically the en-
he time they are in the schoolroom
Teachers Are PowerIess.
Complaints are coming thick and
last from the parents, children are
constantly being kept at home be-
''use they have become so tired and
weak from the close confinement that
seems torture to force them to &c
To Soho"f--but what can the teachers
dog
They are doing everything in their
rover now To relieve the situation
.oeE have invented new and ingen-
lous methods Of seating and ar
Iangement. but have accomplished
,'ue In one schoOl-the Exposition
'"lton Mills on Marietta street
Conditions have become such that the
p'PIiS only get a half days work
"7I of them come in the morning
ana the other half in the afternoon.