Evening star., 1939-04-23
Conference on Child Health
Faces Many New Problems
World Has Changed Radically Since Leaders
Named by Hoover Issued Reports Now
Gathering Dust in Libraries
By Thomas K. Henry.

Gathering dust on the shelves of
American libraries today are the pro-
found reports of the White House Con-
ference on Child Health and Develop
ment, which assembled in Washington
nine years ago at the call of President
Hoover.
In some fields they have become little
more than source documents for the COM
pilation of ancient history-so radically
has the world changed. In other fields
they need little revision to be applicable
to the present.
This conference ended with a splendid
symbolic gesture. 1t drew up the Chill
dren's Charter-a declaration of the
rights of children. as the Magma Charta
has been a declaration of the rights of
man. Today it hangs on the walls of
every kindergarten and nursery school
aAsource of inspiration for those who take
the trouble to read it,
1t asserted the right of every child to
health protection from birth Through
adolescence, school safe from hazards,
an education which would prepare for
life and for earning living, and for
every rural child the same benefits as
came to the city child. This charter
remains living thing, however anti
quated the detailed reports which accom-
panied it. These were the basic founda-
tions upon which it rested. They need
recasting and revivification.
For this reason, President Roosevelt
has called another White House confer
ence, the third in this century, which
will hold its first sessions here next week,
with approximately 10 leaders in all
the interests of children in attendance.
They will start an intensive study of the
problems Of American children and re-
port back at a national conference early
next year. which will be on the same
proportions as that of President Hoover.
The last White House conference was
In 1880. The Nation was topping on the
brink Of the great depression, but it still
was time of relative luxury. Whatever
children needed, their parents, or society,
had the money to buy.
Enormous Strides Made.
Twenty years had passed since the
preceding conference called by Theodore
Roosevelt That was just at the dawn
of the children's renaissance. During
the two decades since, enormous strides
had been made in the sciences of edu-
cation, pediatrics, child psychology The
land had been covered with kindergar-
tens and nursery schools Free maternal
and child health clinics had been opened
almost everywhere. The major maladies
Of children had been conquered, or got
ten under control. The science of dietet-
ics had come to maturity. A childs
chance Of living to adolescence had been
bettered at least Is per cent during those
20 years. New psychologists were max
ing violent impacts on child nurture and
education. Old-fashioned parents, un-
aware of the birth of Gasalt psychology
in postwar Germany, were grumbling
at the decadence of the times in which
their youngsters went through the first
grade without learning the alphabet or
acquiring the ability to spell cat" Be-
haviorism was in the saddle in the United
States. There was hardly a pretty kin.
dergarten teacher who could not inform
one learnedly about conditioning" lack
OF instincts" etc. Like parrots, they re-
cited the Watsonianisms they had
learned by rote from the mouths of the
rather SNUG, self-satisfied psychology
professors of the day.
Every child, said the worshiped John
B. Watson of Johns Hopkins, pontif of
the behaviorists, should have room to
itself.
"Supposing the parents cannot afford
It," was the obvious rejeinder.
Then they have no business to have
children" was the reply of the be-
haviorists.
That was in 1880. Quite SNUG, indeed,
and self-satisfied was the attitude of
many of the eminent physicians, psychol-
ogists and educa tors who came to WASH
ington at the call of President Hoover
Their job-and nobody denies that it
was we'll done for the time and place
was to assess and coordinate the great
advances which had been made and
which, they had every reason to sup
pose, would continue indefinitely in an
ascending curve. In all the proceedings
OF the conference there is not hint
that any one had the faintest FORE
shadowing of two years hence-of troops
Of children little removed from wild
animals riding the freights, of child
"jungles." Of children faintinR at their
school desks from hunger. Such things
had been banished from the world of
1880. Soup kitchens were being set up,
Beggars were little more common on
the street corners. Ruined brokers were
jumping from 20-story windows. But
depression had hardly touched the pro-
tected borders of child life.
So a great deal contained in those
weighty, rather dull 1880 reports is water
that has gone under the bridge. Even
at the time they seemed trifle unreal
'istic. They did, however, appreciate and
assess some of the fundamental changes
that had taken place. The men who
drew them up realized great social
changes affecting child life in the 20
years dnce Theodore Roosevelt,s con-