Paragould soliphone. (Paragould, Ark.) 1918-1950, 1921-11-04
HEALTH IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS
&, Il. r. PARTAoW.

~ - NO.. 1900. ss.ssss
with the great changes which
have been coming over American
life, former conditions have dis
appeared and undisturbed indiffer-
ence to the physical welfare Of
our school children has become i'm
possible. We have changed from
an agricultural people to q race
of dwellers in cities and towns,
thereby bringing new diseases and
causes for new diseases in the wake
bf the change.
The state to provide for its own
protection has deereed that all chill
dren must attend school and to car
ny out that purpose has put IN mo-
ton its all powerful but undiRcrim-
mating agency OF compulsory edn-
cation, which gathers together the
rich, the poor, the bright and The
dull, the healthy and the sick. The
object, OF course, is to insure the
children to have sound minds, but
one Of the unforeseen thinks was
no effort was made to see that the
have sound bodies. This
brings lis to the necessity OF intro
ducing into the curriculum efforts
looking to the development Of tho
body and to teach children the
value of right living. WI sa
A. = ;pnraoooA o<&ona-
ance, and advance in work required
by IAN enlarged curriculum has
brought additional strains upon the
child's health and its play hour
have been cut down Or the gaihsa
OF former times do not meet ths TS-
quirements OF its physical dstelopr
lnent. When the school atandaras
were low, the work was not be-
yond the capacity Of even the Mask-
er children; but ON account Of close
grading, enlarged curriculum high
.er standards, and insistent demands
for further intellectual training con
ditions have changed. The child'i
physical development is now Of %
much Importance as any OF the
branches which he may pursue as his
daily task. 1t is hard for parents
to realize why it 10 necessary I'd
have q physical director, an athletic
trainer, and medical inspector
but stop and pause for q moment
and ask yourself if it 10 fair \ ia
throw out the drag net Of compul-
sorry school law and bring in chill.
dren who are unable to keep step
with their companions on account
Iof some physical impairment and
then do nothing to remove that i'm.
pediment.
AS teacher of long experience
remember many billiards had in
school which gave me no little con.
Germ. Then, / thought they were
|dullards through the viii OF an In
scrutable providence; 1t took Oh,
perience to teach me that the mental
condition was the product OF the
law OF cause and effect This
led ME as thoughtful teacher to
look forward to the time when the
backward pupil would come into
his own, a time when humanity
would understand him and would
sympathize instead Of eensure. 1t
has taken the world some time to
get around to it, but 1t has come.
In many Of our cities and towns
regular period is taken for work
in calisthenics. Often in the coun-
try school it is assumed that the
child has plenty of physical exer-
else which is undoubtedly true, il
it was Of sufficient breadth and
variety to insure the development
of all the muscles of his body.
remember of being surprised at the
time the draft law was put into
operation when it was announced
that young men from the towns
and cities stood q better physical
examination than the young men
from the country, and at that time
the various newspapers Of the coun-
try commented upon it. The final
explanation as given by the govern
ment then was that the work OF
the country youth entailed exer-
cises which developed certain mus
cles to the exclusion of others. The
youth from the city whom we had
considered weakling with q cigar
cite in his mouth showed wonderful
development. The draft law with
all of its detail taught the Ameri-
can people some things Of value rs
to our physical weakness. One
among the things It taught was
that but few could stand the rigid
test of the army.
The history or medical inspection
of schools is recent. Sweden is
probably the country where the
term school physician" was first
used. Austria was the first coun-
try to enact effective legislation
providing for competent inspection
of elementary schools. Cairo, in
Egypt. appointed the first school
physician. and the system is In force
now. Boston was the first city in