Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-01-02
Miseellaneous 8sadina.
WORST BOY IN SCHOOL
Trouble Often Physical Instead Of
Moral.


His teacher said that at the age
Of eleven he was the worst child in
her experience Of many years in
school work. He frequently played
hockey associated with the worst
boys of all ages, smoked cigarettes,
swore like a trooper and lied outra-
geously. Besides, he seemed to take
a stupid pride in learning nothing and
thwarting all her efforts. The only
physical defect noticed was that he
held print unusually close to his eyes.
Examination showed that one eye had
two-sevenths and the other one-fifth
of normal vision"
This is the case Of a San Francisco
urchin reported in the Journal of the
American Medical Association; it
could doubtless be paralleled in scores
of schools the country over; it is, in
deed typical case Of the backward
or incorrigible child who generation
or two ago would have been given up
as a victim of original sim" Fortu-
nately, however, his teacher was a
practical minded, human-hearted wo-
man who decided to make a scientific
test Of her doltish desperado. His pa
rents were poor and ignorant; and at
the time, it seems no system OF medi-
cal inspection was established in the
city's schools. Accordingly, she coax
ed him to her own oculist who exam
ined his eyes and prescribed glasses
which, after much ado, he was per-
suaded to put on. Within a year, the
boy was virtually transformed. He at
tended school regularly, responded
quickly to mental and moral stimuli,
learned without difficulty and ranked
in the forefront Of his class. The
Journal of the American Medical AS
sociation aptly comments:
THE explanation Of this metamor-
phosis is simple and natural The
child was more than three-fourths
blind and no one had known it. He
could not learn because he could not
see, and his eyes and head undoubt-
edly panied him when straining to
see. His incorrect and absurd answers
made the other pupils laugh at and
guy him, so he hated everything con-
nected with the school, and in playing
truant he met the worst possible as
sociates and learned from them his
notable array Of vicious habits. When
he put on his glasses he saw the world
for the first time clearly and in COM
fort. He therefore was able to learn
and his ambition was aroused. Hence,
he loved schooling and the opportunity
to show his real capability, and by
regular attendance at school lost the
bad companionship which was really
responsible for his show Of criminal
tendencies"
How can we reckon the value Of in
telligent attention to this one defec-
tive child the value to the community
as we'll as to himself! Had he gone
on from year to year sullen and stu
pid, callous to moral suasion, ignored
as unlovable by his parents, and
branded with an i'll name by his neigh
borhood, is it not probable that he
would have developed into a danger
Gus enemy Of society?
What was accomplished for this one
child by a teachers kindness and
common sense can be accomplished
for the masses Of children by systems
Of medical inspection in public
schools. There are comparatively few
cases so acute as that we have de-
scribed but there are thousands OF
children suffering from physical de-
fects which impair their efficiency and
which, if neglected, may depen into
lifelong ills. The school that does not
conserve the health Of its pupils fails
in a fundamental duty to the city and
the state. No plan Of education wor-
thy the name can rest on decadent
nerves; no system of training that ig-
nores the body's needs can fit children
for citizenship and home making.
The school that measures up to its
responsibility must have not only
good teachers but also proper equip
ment for heat and ventilation, it must
have ample facilities for play and
physical culture and it must also give
pupils the inestimable benefit Of med
ical and dental inspection.