Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-02
Airport ADVISES
STUDYING STUPID
Teachers Shown How They May Tom
duct Annual Examination OF Chii-
dren in Their Care.

To have teachers of public schools
examine their pupils for eye, ear, nose
and throat trouble once year was the
plan advanced last evening by DR..
Frank Airport of Chicago in his lee
ture at the Moline high school, as
means of relieving the teachers OF the
worry of teaching apparently stupid
children, whose stupidity in fact is the
result of their being physically de-
fective.
This system, which he has advocated
for the last 25 years and caused to
have adopted as law in Is states
costs absolutely nothing, except the
teachers time one day year and any
person who is intelligent enough 10
teach school can conduct the examina-
tons which consist of asking nine
simple questions. No medical educa-
ton is necessary, said the speaker, TO
determine whether or not a child is
cross-eyed, has infamed eyes, habltual
headaches, breathes through his
mouth, has a running nose and dis
charge from the ear. OF course, said
DR.. Airport, these symptoms may COW
er multitude of diseases Of the eyes,
ears, nose and throat, but the teachers
will have completed their work after
making the examinations and present.
ing the parents with cards Of warning
in event any defects are discovered.
The simple process of testing the eyes
by having the child make out hero
glyphics 20 feet away, first with one
eye and then with the other, is includ-
ed in the examination.
Under the plan as outlined by DR..
Airport, the teacher would not know
what allied the child, but an examina-
ton would soon inform her whether or
not a boy or girl was in need of medi-
cal attention, and recommendations to
this effect would be made to the par
ents
Teachers who were present were
shown by Dr. Airport how to conduct
the examination, a number of subjects
being used for demonstrating pur-
poses.
What causes you teachers to be
tired and weary at the end of the day s
work." asked the speaker at is not
because your work is hard; it's be-
cause you have to teach stupid chill
dren. Only three per cent of the chill
dren in the United States are born de-
fective, yet one may go into school
room where there are perhaps forty
pupils and find at least twelve of them
apparently stupid. But child is
not stupid because he looks and acts
as if he is. Nine times out of ten his
baCkwardness is due to physical de-
fects-he cart see or can't hear we'll
1t is hard for him to study, and finally
he begins to lag behind, drops out of
school. becomes an idler and falls into
crime There are 100000 repeaters
in this country-they are students who
have to take the same studies more
than once-and all that is necessary tC
make them keep up with their class
mates is to correct their physical i'm
PROJECTIONS These repeaters cost the
United States s10O,O00,0OO year.
Between "A and IS per cent of the
criminals in this country are physi-
cally defective, and with the excep-
ton Of three per cent they don't have
to be imperfect. 1t is cheaper to keep
children well than to support peniten-
tiaries. courts, and insane asylums.
by curing diseases of eye and ear OF
children while they are in school will
tighten labors of the teacher, and be Of
inestimable benefit to the boys and
girls and the parents as we'll"
DR.. Airport, doing work for some
twenty big factories OF Chicago and
ten railroad companies, spoke briefly
on protection of the eyes for shopmen
He recommended that men in factories
where there is any danger of flying
steel or other matter getting into the
eyes should wear goggles, whether
they are furnished by the employers OF
the man who wears them. He exhibit.
ed type Of goggles which he said is
being used in most Of the large fac
tories in and around Chicago.