The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1917-05-10

a licensed physician. Provided that
pupils over twelve years Of age shall
be inspected and examined by a nurse
or licensed physician of the same sex
as such pupil only.
Provision as to reports and boards
of health are also made. The meaning
and object of medical inspection was
also dealt with, and some of the objec-
tions that had been made against it
were noted, chief among which was
the usurpation of the parents right
to control and manage the affairs of
his own child physically as we'll as
mentally.
The health of North Dakota's child
rem was presented as Of as much i'm
portance as the health of domestic an
imals, or the determination Of the en-
emies of our agricultural products.
The needs of medical inspection
were derived from the fact that gov
eminent statistics show that a large
per cent of the school children in the
United States are physically defective
from various causes; the most COM
mon being adenoids, enlarged t~onsils,
cervical glands, defective teeth, NAL
nutrition, defective eyesight and hear
ing, all of which affect the mental
faculties as we'll as the physical, and
cause much Of the poor scholarship
among the backward pupils in our
public schools.
The counties in the state that have
already employed a visiting or school
nurse, as Grand Forks and LaMoure.
| Williams county has had a nurse part
of the time and in McHenry county a
number of districts have had medical
inspection aided by local physicians.
The County superintendent Of
Grand Forks and LaMoure counties,
where the work has been carried on
for over a year, claim it has been full
of good results and that the sanitary
condition of the schools has material
ly improved and rules for promoting
personal hygiene have been followed
by many of the school children.
The prevalent idea that the coun-
try child is more healthy than his city
cousin does not seem to bear close in
, vestigation. Reports of various
| show that the per cent of defective
children is larger in the former than
in the latter. DR.. Thomas D. Wood
of Columbia University says that the
country child is from fifteen to twen-
ty per cent more defective than the
city child. .
Infant mortality was discussed and
in North Dakota the per cent OF
children who die in the first year of
life was presented as being greater
than that shown by the government
statistics which are derived from the
registration area which covers about
sixty-four per cent of the country.
In 1900 in North Dakota 80 per
cent of all deaths were of child
rem under one year of age. During
the same year in the whole country
10 per cent of all deaths were OF
children under one year Of age. In
| 1915 rs per cent of all deaths were
| of children who had seen the
first anniversary of their birth, while
in the country at large the per cent
was only II.
The school Nurse was presented as
a valuable asset in the health curric-
ulum and a helpful factor in the con-
~servation of human life.
The Playlet "Baby's Godmother,"
with a Lullaby solo by Mrs. Gleason
closed the afternoons program.
The playlet was we'll given by
eight little girls coached by Mesdames
Bjerkness and Gleason.
Mrs. Shuler presided at the meet
ing and Mrs. Herbst with a few fit
ting remarks presented the prizes to
the winners in the Baby Essay con-
test to Edith Czarnetski from the 4th
grade, Hawker from the u
and Philip Berthiaume from the 9Th.
The Woman's club of Bottineau is
taking a great deal Of interest in the
school nurse question and realize that
it is a needed improvement in our
educational system, the next step is a
psychologist, a specialist who will de-
termine the mentality Of the pupils
and ascertain whether the work is too
hard or too easy for them. There are
rules for measuring the intelligence
! of a child and the day is coming when
this will be done.