Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-11-06

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Although We do call the enterine
classes the babies of the school ane
they do seem very babyish beside the
husky eighth graders still it is not oi
them We think when We ask what the
Better: Babies campaign has. 70 dc
with our schools our common pub
lie schools. primarily We mean the
actual babies in the home
But we must remember that the
term does not belong solely 10 the
i child in arms II means also the
1 trun-about child as DR. Wood OF
Teachers, College calls him.
II Up 10 six years Of age the child IS
considered a baby At six years he
/ is expected to- goeto school; TO change
II all his modes of life for five hours
each day-to sit still for seemingly
interminable periods OF time, to re-
frain from natural expression and to
conform to prescribed forms of eX-
preston; i'm fact to do all the things
! he never has done before and not 10
do the things he has been accustom,
| ed TO do.
! what About the Body! ..-....
What equipment does the siX-year-
old bring 10 this trying experience?
Is the body well-deveioped-are the
conditions good for ready new ad-
iustment? Is the brain welI-developed
and wel-fed? Are the eyes strong
for the unusual continued effort de-
manded, where no opportunity is Civ
en- for the restful long-distance focus
ing of eyes used to fit butterfly like
from one object to another? Are
the ears keen and sensitive? Are the
teeth sound and well cared for, so that
the body receives its food properly
prepared?
If all first grade pupils entered
school in perfect condition we should
hear less. about the unhealthfulness
of schools in general Schools must,
in the very nature of tn ngs, be very
different from the home, where the
average run-about child is something
of free lance. The adjustment must
be more or less difficult in any case;
But when we consider how few OF
our school babies enter without some
one handicap, often with two or more,
we realize how difficult and discourag-
ing becomes the problem put before
the teacher.
Eye Defects
While eye defects may number %
per cent in grade class, and ear de-
fects something less the number of
little children that enter with aden-
ODDS or troublesome tonsils is far
greater, and those having bad teeth
are startling majority. These de-
fects do not suddenly develop after a
child enters school. They have been
developing for years before then.
Malnutrition may result from bad
teeth: and insufficient or an unbaE
anced diet may help the decay of the
teeth: both combine to produce the
pitifully undeveloped bodies and the
pipe stem arms and legs that arous-
ed the inspectors ire. The schools
can do but little to remedy this. The
homes must be reached by educatlve
and helpful measures. These mea- |
sures must begin with the home baby |
and follow the run-about baby to
school.
In one Of the most up-to-date schools !
in the territory a medical inspector |
exclaimed at the skinny arms and legs
of the little people. Whats wrongs"
was asked "Underfed," was the re-
ply. 4 little inquiry disclosed the
facts that some children went to
school without breakfast, and many
more took no luncheon. Many first
graders, even, had only bread and cof-
fee before leaving home. Coffee for
babies not only the school baby but
the run-about baby in the home, pre-
The Luncheon
An astonishing number of school
children, even in the grades, do not
take luncheon from home and do not
buy luncheon regularly They eat
after they get home, and that after
an early breakfast The school. kitch-
ems are a godsend to the average child
in the public schools, and some way
must be devised whereby the poorest
child who is at the same time the
child that needs il most. shall be pro-
vided with the wholesome food. More
and more the children are feeling the
appeal of the school lunch; the teach
ers testify to added power in work;
and the parents will cooperate as they
are able when once they realize that
a substantial luncheon is a necessity,
not an indulgence.
The care of the teeth must be be-
gun in infancy in the home. If we
would have our school children free
from that bane IF childhood. the tooth
ache, we must begin very early to
care FOR the baby teeth. Few moth
ars know that upon this depends GER
tain phases of child development.
Eye and Ear Defects
Eye and ear defects, unless very
marked, may not be recognized until
the child completes in the, sehoolroom
with other children. A child so han
has not the same chance as
his fellows. a child that cannot see
The blackboard work clearly, or that
cannot hear his teacher speak in a
well-modulated tone, cannot possibly
10 the same work that his better
equipped classmates DO
If the difficulty can be remedled