Douglas daily dispatch., 1928-01-15

WCIC IlOU Ill SC4lOO1s 111CIc
was just one duty involved and that
was to relieve the suffering. That
was my duty rather than to worry
about the children being out OF school
! that morning.
Relief Brought Promptly
"1t has been on such occasions as
that that have had the best evidence
of what a splendid city we live in. l
reported the situation and within the
hour we had food, clothing and medi-
cal attention to that family. Within
day or two the children were back
in the school wearing garments that
| kept them warm, having the compan-
ionShip of their schoolmates and from
them getting the inspiration and edu-
cation and courage which hope will
result in putting them out OF danger
/ of living, when they grow up, in such
novels as their family occupied. There
was no floor in the hovel, the street
level was above the level of the floor
and there was far too plentiful venti-
| lation in the cracks in the wall"
! Turning then to the hardeSt-boil
child he had ever had to contend
with, Cook recalled boy who was
handicapped by the lack of a mothers
/ love and whose home was presided
over by his sister. His father was a
good, hard-working man anxious for
his boy to go to school, but appar-
emily not much of home disciplinar-
ian. The boy was determined to beat
all efforts to help him to get an edu-
cation and would persistently run away
from school or from home, whichever
place he happened to be when the
mood struck him. He would remain
away from home for days at time
| possibly mooching what he wanted to
eat or going without.
/ Patience Need of Work
"That boy was nerve wrecker in
] all that MEANS" said Cook. 1--WE
could not interest him in school work.
once he determined that he would
break away and leave all behind by
going away with a travelling show
Some good friend of the family heard
of it and induced him to go to the
country until that show had gone
through. But we persisted and finally
1 the boy began to improve and we
finally got him to making some prog
ress in school He was one of those
| types that had to be conquered by
persistent watchfulness and return to
the scenes of his school work. That
is one of the things about this work
If one got impatient, then there
lWould be no hope of result, for it is
a case of seemingly endless effort, at
| times
Among the other types of cases, the
officer told of lad who had started
life with handicap. He lost his
father when a small child and his
step-father had no control over him
and his mother but little. The state
had taken custody of him at one time
and kept him in reform school and
he was out on probation He would
not go to school of his own will, and
when forced to go he would do tricks
that demoralized the discipline. When
he was at home he did things that
annoyed not only the family but the
neighbors He would let the air out
of the tires of cars standing handy
and do other aggravating stunts that
made it impossible to hope that, he
would get anywhere And so that boy
finally was sent back to the reform
school where the state could have a
I more positive grip on him and thereby
hope to bring about a change of spirit
1 in him that may eventually mean his
redemption.
Parents Friendly to Cause
Officer Cook says that during his
experience in his capacity as an at
tendance officer, he has found parents
almost unanimous in their desire to
have their. children kept in school.
He says it often happens that he finds
the parents ignorant of the absentee
ism until he brings the news to them
land that he has often seen mothers
brought to tears by the knowledge
that their children were not going to
the school as they believed. He has
found practically no opposition from
the parents to his efforts to get the
children back into the classroom. He
does work every day for five schools
and is subject to call in doing work
for four others, all in the Douglas
: district. He averages about 20 calls a
day and these have afforded him
: rather intimate views of the home life
and he has reached some conclusions
as to causes for abSenteeiSm and also
for the attitude Of children toward
: the school and world in general. He
says that one of the aggravations IN
the work is found in cases where the
? home has been broken by separation
and divorce with custody and support
divided.
e Another thing that he calls atten-
tion to is the valuable work that the
t school district is doing to safeguard
e the health of the children. His vlsl
: is frequently followed by visit o.
2 the school nurse, and it is always
: followed by the nurse if there is tina
t about the case of sickness, when tina
e is the cause of the child being out o.
: school, that hints of possible con
tagious or infectious disease. There
S is no middle ground in his action. HI
believes that the safe course is thu
only course in such matters.
:. Parent Best Qualified
d One of the interesting things il
# Cooks work is that he holds to tn
(NoYNfiy11nI ThTnn0