The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-12-03

Ol the ScnOOl meOlcal O1Ilcef, to see lO the feeding of necessitous children, to look after the health and general home conditions of the children and to form q link between the poorhouse and the agencies for medical and other relief.
 BOOKS OF LITTLE VALUE
 England realized some years ago that mere book education was very little use to children who were underfed or suf- fering from disease The first step taken was the appointment of school medical officers whose duty it is to examine every child at least three times during the period of his attendance at school This is done on entering, about the mid- dle of the school life, and on leaving but in addition to this the medical officer is supposed to keep an eye on all the children and detect the beginnings of dis ease or malformation and draw attention to them.
 There, however, his duties end. No pro- vision is made in the law for treatment or for following up. The report of the doctor is transmitted to the parents of the child and the responsibility has rested with them for securing proper treatment. This is one of the directions in which the work of the child care committees has been most valuable It is the duty of these committees to follow up all such cases, visit the child's home and advise
 
 | cases it is necessary to insist and in Q few to set the machinery of the law in motion to compel careless and negligent parents to do their duty. Of course this 1 is work requiring 8 maximum of tact and minimum of the interfering spirit which l is far too common in the villages and rural towns of England. The London county council has found however, that in London this objection does not obtain to anything like the same extent as in ! the country. The committee, man or woman, has no time to pry into the pri- yate affairs of the children's parents in the same way that the vicar's wife or the lady of the manor interferes in the private life of the cottagers, and the great majority of the town parents wei come the advice and help of the visitors. Where they are especially useful is in putting poor parents in touch with various medical and surgical relief organizations, of which they otherwise would not have known, and in making smooth their path in obtaining the necessary aid.
 ANOTHER GREAT PROBLEM
 Another problem with which they have to deal is that of children under bad surroundings and this problem has been strangely intensified by the war. The London magistrates, and indeed the mag istrates all over the country have been commenting recently on what they call a wave of juvenile crime" Now many magistrates are pompous old persons with a liking for big words and very little knowledge of real life, as it is lived on s7 or $S a week. What has happened is really this. Nearly all the fathers of the younger boys and girls are off to the war. Those that are not are most likely working long hours in munitions factories and often living away from home in order to do so. There is a consequent ab- Of Ynor. t11 iaIi, Tn, fI1A 0lh days perhaps a father did not interfere much, but he was always in the back ground and mother held him in reserve as terrible threat to enforce her com mands. Now the children know that father and his leather belt are at the front and that "the front is a long way from home. Then there are all sorts of interesting things to be seen in the streets and in the picture palaces and the result is that the children stay out late and get into trouble. They fall into the hands of the police and the solemn old magistrates talk gravely about juvenile crime" when the children of the poor are charged with committing acts in the street which if committed by the magis- trates' own boys in the playing field would be laughed at as examples of fine high spirits. The juvenile care commit tees are needed to organize amusements, which will keep the children out of mis- chief, to instill into them a sense of ais ciplne, and If they do get into trouble to put in good word for them with the magistrates and see that the punishment is not entirely out of proportion to the crime.
 Another branch of the work which has been increased by the war is strangely enough the provision of employment for children leaving home. There never has been time when there was such a de- T L .. be out of work for five minutes, and 1t is just here that the danger lies, for much of the work that is offered in blind alley cupations-occupation which lead to nothing and in which the boy will find himself in a few years super seded by younger and cheaper boy, while he himself will have learned noth- ing and will be of even less economic value than when he started. One of the most useful activities of the care com mittees is in steering the children clear of such occupations, and when they do fall into them of urging them to attend night classes and technical schools, so that while they are earning their inn mediate living in the blind alley they are fitting themselves to get out of it into something better. Under present condi- tions boy leaving school. if he is smart, can get a job in munitions factory which will pay him something like S5 or $6 a week. This is more than double the price of ordinary boy labor in peace time, and, of course. is very attractive. But when the war is over and the muni- tions factories close down the boy will be out of work, year or two older, and he will have learned very little that will be of use to him, if he had not employed his spare time profitably in the meantime.
 The magnitude of the work which is being done In London alone may be gathered from the figures. There are about 750000 children in the London county council schools In times of nor nal poverty about 50,OOO of these are supplied with free meals and must be followed up at their homes. Medical treatment is wanted for about 100000 of the children passing through the school medical officers hands every year. Alt these cases must be followed up at least once, and many of them many times. It is estimated that 25 per cent of those re- quiring treatment do not receive it until pressure in some form is brought to bear on the parents. About 10000 children leave school every year and while, of course. a large number of them secure employment through their parents or relatives there are a large number left who must be looked after and helped. Indeed this work, if properly carried out is the heaviest of all, for it means keep ing in touch with these young persons for some years after they have left school. advising them about change of