Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-04-14

preparation for 6aby week..
Although we do call the entering
classes the babies OF the school, and
they do seem very babyish beside the
husky eighth graders: stin il is not
of them that Ne are thinking when
| We ask what the Better Babies Cam
paign has to do with our schools-our
common public schools primarily We
mean the actual babies in arms in the
home
I But we must remember that the
term does net belong solely u the
I child III arms. II means also the ''rIR-
! about child" as DR.. Woods Of Teach
ers' College calls him.
/ Up 10 SIX years of age the child is
considered a baby. 1T six be is ex-
Lected TO start to school: to change
all his modes of life for FIVE hours
! day--te sit still for seemingly inter
ninabfe periods of time, to refrain
I from natural expression. and to con-
form to prescribed forms of express
sion: in fact, TO do all the things he
never has done before, and not do
| many Of the things he has been ac-
| cuStomed to. -. " r.. ...
What equipment does the six-year
old bring to this Trying experience? Is
the body welldeyeloped? Are the
conditions good for really new adj
justment? Is the brain well devel-
oped and we'll fed? Are the eyes
strong for the unusual continued eff
fort demanded, where no opportunity
, sing of eyes used to fit butterRy-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 prop
erly prepared? H..
If all first-grade pupils entered
school in perfect physical condition,
we should hear less about the un-
healthfulness of schools in general
Schools must, in the very nature of
things, be much different from homes,
where the average run-about child is
something of a free-lance The ad-
justment must be more or less diff
cult in any case. But when we con-
slider how few of our school babies
enter without some one handicap
often with two or more-we realize
how difficult and discouraging be-
comes the problem put before the
teacher.
While eye defects may number %
per cent in a grade class ,tRnd ear de-
fects only whit less, the number of
little children that enter with ade
noids or troublesome tonsils is far
greater, and these having bad teeth
are a startling majority. These de-
fects do not suddenly develop after
the child enters scnooi. They have
been developing for years before then.
Malnutrition may result from bad
teeth; an insufficient or an unbal- |
anced diet may help the decay of the |
teeth; both combine to produce the |
pitifully Hndeveloped bodies and pipe |
stem arms and legs that arouse the |
inspectors ire The schools can do |
but little to remedy this. The homes |
must be reached by educative and
helpful measures These measures |
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 in |
spector exclaimed at the skinny arms |
and legs of the little people. What's |
wrong?" was asked. ''Underfed," was |
the reply. "A little inquiry developed |
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
the babiesi Not only for the school /
baby, but for the run-about baby in
the home, too, presumably,
"An astonishing number of school
childre1, even in the grades, do not |
carry luncheon from home and do not
buy luncheon regularly They eat l
after they get home. and after that an /
early breakfast. The school-kitchens /
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 it
most, shall be provided with whole
some food. More and more the chill
dren are feeling the appeal of the
school lunch: the teachers testify to
added power in work; and the parents
will cooperate as they are able when
once they realize that substantial
lunch is a necessity and not luxury
or 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 of ldhood-tooth-
achieve must begin very early to
care for the baby teeth. Few mothers
know that upon this depends certain
phases of child develop
me Ess $500
with other children