Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1916-03-09
SAFEGUARD THE CHILDREN

the sake of helping others.
SAFEGUARD THE CHILDREN
In the case of adults, especially
of those who are not directly caring
for young children, this attitude is
not only noble and admirable but is
the only way that any one with the
heart of man in him would consid-
er for moment. But in the case of
children the balance is in exactly the
opposite direction. They can do thel
little playmates no conceivable good
by visiting or staying near them when
they are sick. and they run serious
risk both of contracting the disease
themselves and of spreading it TO
others of their playmates. In view
of this | think we should really hest
tate about this visiting the sick and
the afflicted" form of altruism to chill
dren before they are of an age to be
able to make any practical application
of it without involving themselves
and the community in serious danger
out of all proportion to any possible
compensating return. We would not
dream of teaching the child of seven
that he should rush into burning
building to empty the contents of his
toy-bucket upon the flames. Infinit-
ly his most useful service is to spread
the alarm. TO shout at the top of his
voice to the nearest grown-up that he
can find. to run and tell the police
man. or carry the word to the near
est fire-station or fire-boX. So it
should be with those deadliest con-
flagerations which take toll of hui
manity-fever and pestilence.
Then comes period. from the Sec
ond 10 the sixth or seventh year,
when small infections literally run
riot. and the heaviest mortality from
these plaques of infancy occurs. This
is the period when children begin u
be little automotors. capable of run
ming about by themselves, able IL
thrust their fingers into every
thing. crawl over and burrow into
and roll upon every imaginable sur
face; to eat everything they can
thrust into their mouths; to kiss any
body, fight with anybody, no matter
how dirty or disreputable and often
sive; to hug the dog and slobber over
the cat. and in general run themselves
into the maximum of possible dangers
with the minimum of intelligence and
self-protection. But through all this
period, every one of the infections
caught is practically caught from an
other child, and usually. for the most
part. from and through an older
child, one in the next age group.
After the seventh year there is a
marked falling off in the incidence
of children's diseases; partly, of
course, for the reason that a great
many children have already had
them; but also. we are coming to be-
lieve, because the children are begin
ming to develop some protective in
telligence in the matter of indiscrim-
mate handling of and playing in dirt
and refuse, and in the avoidance Of
the more obvious sources of infec-
ton. and of at least gross contact
with those who are suffering from
disease or from distiguring eruptions
or sores. Such little onward steps in
the march of civilization as ceasing
to take alternate ticks at stick of
candy, or to swap wads of chewing
gum, or the indiscriminate inter
change of sucked pencils, are begin
ming to check the Wholesale and un-
hindered spread of infections. Com
paratively few diseases are spread
through the air. actual contact and
carriage into mouth, nose, or blood,
are usually necessary. kissing, fight
ing, and the syndicate purchase and
cooperative consumption of blocks
of candy stock are potent factors. In
fine. there is wide and fruitful field
for education in diminishing the
spread of infectious diseases among
children. Ii is the task of education,
here as everywhere else. to teacn
that which children do not know by
instinct or can not safely be left to
find out for themselves.
1t is quite true that there is fairly
good evidence that some of our min
or infections, like measels, chicken
poX. and perhaps scarlet fever, have
become milder with successive CEN
turtles of civilization. But that they
have done any good to the race in the
process of bunting the edge of their
virulence is not merely doubtful, but
is quite inconceivable. And it is well
to bear in mind that such trivial"
disease as measels, for instance, with
a direct mortality of less than one per
cent, sweeps away from eight to ten
thousand childrens lives every year,
in the highly civilized United States.
But we have reacted from all that,
sharply, and for two reasons. First
We have learned that these little fe-
vers are by no means the trivial,
harmless. light amusements they are
sometimes painted; as evidenced by
I 81 So.