Milford chronicle., 1931-10-30
PARENT-TEACHER
ASSOCIATIONS


When interviewed recently in re-
gard to the Summer Roundup of
the Children, a health project spon-
sored by the Delaware Parent
Teachers Association with the full
cooperation of the State Board of
Health, DR.. A. G. JOst, Executive
Secretary. said:
All our efforts among the pre-
school children will be, in one sense,
lost, if the parents of these children
do not take upon themselves the re-
sponsibility of correcting the remed-
liable defects discovered last sum-
mer. In cases where parents do not
realize the importance of the follow
up work, the local Summer Round
up" committees will have to ar
range for medical, or, if necessary,
hospital, care. | doubt whether
there is community in the State in
which facilities are not available
for the child in need of such care,
whose parents are unable to pay the
bills" continued DR.. Jost, in re
sponse to question concerning the
large number of. tOnsil and adenoid
cases discovered.
This project initiated by the Ma
tional Congress of Parents and
Teachers in 1925, was recommended
by the White House Conference on
Child Care and Protection last No
Vember. Practically all states par
ticipate in it. The United States
Office of Education, through Com
missioner William John Cooper, Miss
Grace Abbott, chief of the Children's
Bureau, and the American Medical
Association have shown their inter
est in the movement in various ways.
Three units of the Delaware State |
Board of Health during the summer
discovered S43 defects in $50 chill |
dren examined in SO districts. The |
number of children examined was
small in comparison with the num- |
ber of children entering school. 1t |
is, however, encouraging as a be- |
ginning. The State Board of Health |
did all in its power to back up the |
preliminary work done by Summer |
Roundup" committees of local par
ent-Teacher Associations. Addition
al nurses were placed on duty tenn
porarily to interview parents and to
encourage attendance at the exam
lining centers. 1t is now the respon-
sibility of the local committee to |.
back up the earnest effort of the
State Board of Health to see that
these beginners are fit to carry on
in school.
The general consensus of opinion
among the examining physicians is
that most of these defects are easily
remediable now. If neglected they
may become serious handicaps in
later life.
In New Castle County So tOxoid
(diphtheria) were given
at the time of the "ROund-Up." Clay
mont leads the list with n children
examined, Newark 5S, Richardson
Park 48.
In Kent County no diphtheria i'm
work was done. Milford
had 81 children examined, Smyrna
30, and Dover 30.
In Sussex there were SO diph-
iberia immunizatiOns and q small
pox vaccinations. Bridgeville pre-
sented "a children for examination,
Lewes 81, and Seaford and Selby-
Vile each 16. In all three counties
here was a splendid response from
he small districts.
The findings at two clinics, visited
)y the writer, were cited as typical
ly the examining physician. AT one
school where 81 children were eX-
19 had bad teeth and IL
diseased tonsils. There was no
perfect" child. At another, where
Iix children were examined, four had
)ad teeth, three, defective tonsils,
md three were undernOurished A
number of cases of bad
eeth, diseased tOnsils and malnutri-
ion were discovered throughout the
State.
In many instances the potential
ignificance of such defects is hard
o impress upon the individual par
mt.
Community and State pride in
Meeting the challenge of the White
House Conference will have to come
o the fore in order that these
may have a fair chance
I school. Districts which have al G
eady completed their follow-up
,ork are urged to forward their re- $
orts without delay to Miss Elizabeth q
Mensch, M-207 Delaware Trust /
Wilmington, i'll order that
Iiss Mensch as chairman of the /
Summer Roundup" may finish her k
eports for the State Board of
Lealth and National Congress of C
arents and Teachers. s
President Howard II. Ennis at the "
aren't Teacher Association Insti-
lie, Saturday, October oath, in the t,
over school declared: present il
demand more continuous 3
nd intense application than we
ave had in the past We must in s
rest more intelligent leadership. a
his is now possible under improved
,hool conditions. The aims and d
aiming of the school must be un- o.
erstood by the parent because of W
ranging conditions" G
Mr. Ennis referred to the inspira- n
on gained while in attendance at ff
e Conference on Parent Education v
lied by United States Commission V
of Education, William John Coop VI,
=, preceding the National Congress G.
Parents and Teachers at Hot O.
brings. -,
In the roundtable for program +,
Iairmen, Miss Eta ]. Wilson, chair
an of the State Program Commit .,
e, reported on the plans which are -
ing developed to aid local groups -
carry out their programs for the 20