Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1916-03-16
HERBERT PRYOR THINKS
PHYSICAL EXAMINATION THING
Says That Best Schools in United
States are Installing Courses in
Preventative Medicine.
LIKES HIS WORK IN NEW YORK
When He First Went to New York
the Change Was Too Much for
Him and He DisIiked II.

an active city superintendent Of
schools at Mexico to the life of stu
dent in Columbia University, New
York. Life in pigeon hole No. 91s on
the ninth floor of a New York sky
scraper is quite different from life
with my family in the comfortable
cottage on Woodlawn. l may also
add that the dining service in Mis-
souri, home, presided over by SOUTH
ern home making expert is also some
what different from the cafetarias and
automatic lunches in New York.
However, / am becoming adjusted TO
the new way of living and have time
and energy for short message to the
people at home.
wish to endorse, most heartily the
action of the Board of Education in
providing for the physical examina-
ton of the children at school. /
trust that this may mark the begin
ming of the movement at Mexico to
conserve the health and strength Of
our children. There has been no
more important movement in educa-
tion during the last two decades than
that of the conservation Of the health
Of school children by regular medical
inspection of schools. This move
ment has gained such headway that
there are over five hundred cities
in the United States today that are
doing regular and definite work along
this line. 1t has passed the earlier
stage of medical inspection" and has
entered the field Of preventative medi-
cine. Its keynote is the cultivation
of the health of all and the preven-
tion Of effectiveness in any by the hy-
gienic supervision of all school ac-
tivities.
A few quotations from a new book
on Public School Administration, pub
lished last month, by Professor E. P.
Cubberley, Of Leland Stanford Uni
versity, one Of the foremost authori-
ties in the United States on school
problems, will carry conviction as to
the Importance of the movement.
"0nly about four per cent Of the
school children, statistics show, need
to be excluded in any one year on ac-
count of contagious diseases, while
fifty to sixty per cent of the children
suffer from non-contagious physical
defects, which interfere more or less
with educational procedure, and which
need to be taken into account by school
authorities. The problem is how best
to conserve the child's native physical
vigor and to overcome, as far as pos
sible, his hereditary or acquired ply
steal deficiencies, not only that his
progress in school may be normal, but
that he may develop into strong and
sound human being, knowing how to
care for himself. :. Results obtained
in many American and European cit
les have clearly demonstrated that a
very small added cost--from ten to
seventy-fve cents per pupil per year,
varying somewhat with the kind Of
health service provided: for a room
Of forty pupils an additional daily ex-
pense of from two to sixteen cents
per room will provide health service
which will increase the value Of the
instruction offered out Of all proper
tion to it's actual cost"
Mexico has one Of the best school
systems in the middle West and has
now reached point, when, in my
judgement, it would be wise to give
more attention to the health of the
children by the employment of a regu-
lar school nurse for either part or full
time as the size Of the school may re-
quire.
Later, hope to write Of some of the
modern movements in education which
are attracting nationwide attention
and are causing the complete reor-
ganization Of the school systems Of
some of our leading cities.
Yours sincerely,
UERRERT PRYOR