The Columbus dispatch. (Columbus, Miss.) 19??-1922, 1920-01-04
MANY CHILDREN
PROVEDEFF""'''"
NKLL~bB IINATION IN
yH00LS REVEALS
.aNY DEFECTS IN
CHILDREN.
So THROAT TROUBLE
Thitry-0ne Had AdenOids And
Thirty-Two Suffer From De-
fective NisiOn-Some OBJ
servatiOns.

------
Prof. j. c, Meadows, superinten-
dent Of the city schools has issued
the following statement relative to the
recent medical examination and in
spection of 100 hadren of the Junior
High School. The report is mter-
esting and illuminating and should be
read by every parent in the city. The
state ment follows.
A careful examination has been
made of the esrs, eyes, nose, throat,
and lungs of 100 students chosen at
random from the Junior High School.
cost except for blanks through the
This experiment was made without
cooperation of Drs. Lemberg, Hol-
linsworth, and Richards. the health
committee and certain members of
the Parent Teachers Association Of
Franklin. All Of whom offered their
services free for the test.
OF the 100 children examined SO
had defects in vision, 13 had defective
hearin, L. defects Of the nose, 58 de-
fects of the throat, 81 had adenoids
Three cases of goiter were observed.
Twenty-four children had no defect.
Since 100 children were examined hav-
ing been chosen at random the fig
ures it is thought represent the per-
centage of defects Throughout the
schools of the City.
The approaching session of our
state Legislature is almost certain to
demand the present compulsory at
tendance law by providing the mach
inery for its enforcement. This will
gather into the schools another ses-
sion many whnse physical defects
have forced tha,a out, thus making
tn percentages even higher.
Ever since its establishment the
good results of medical inspection
have been evident. Epidemics have
been avoided or checked. Where it
obtains parents and teachers have
come to feel that it is safe for child
rem to continue in school even in
times of actual epidemic.
Medical inspection does not con
fine itself to dealing with the con
tagious disease. With the recent ex-
tensions in the length of the school
serm and the increase in the number
of years Of schooling demanded ,of
the child has come All advance in the
standards Of work required. When
the standards were low the work
was not beyond the capacity Of the
weaker children; but with the close
grading, fuller courses, higher stand
ards, and more insistant demands for
better work, many rupils were unable
to keep up with their companions.
Teachers hae considered the retard-
ed pupils exceptional, or backward.
The school physicians have shown
that hundreds Of these children are
backward simply because of remova-
BILE physical defects; that they were
not dullards through the will of Pro-
vidence, but through the law Of cause
end effect
Teachers and parents have come to
realize that the problem of the pupil
with effective eyesight may be as inn
por,ant to the community as that of
the pupil with some contagious dis
ease. If the child's defective vision
is unrecognized, headaches, eyestrain,
and failure are sure to follow. He
can not see the blackboards and
charts; printed books are indistinct
or seen with great effort. He soon
finds that it is impossible to Seep
pace with his companions, and be-
coming discouraged, he falls behind
in the unequal race.
1t is no better plight to the child
suffering from enlarged tonsils and
adenoids which prevent proper nasal
breathing and compel him to keep his
mouth open in order to breathe. Per-
haps one of his trouble is deafness.
He is soon considered stupid.
Through no fault Of his own he is
doomed to failure. He neglect his
studies, hates his school, leaves long
before he has completed the course
and is well started on the road to an
uncompromising and despondent lift.
When the parent delivers his child
to the public schools he has right
to insist that the child under the
supervision Of the school authorities
shall be safe from harm and shall be
+ lfI III A. Ma, a.. - t.aaf os