Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 December 1907 — DEFECTIVE CHILDREN. [ARTICLE]

DEFECTIVE CHILDREN.

One-Third of All School Pupils Have Something Wrong with Them. According to the report of a committee of prominent educators, headed by Charles C. Burlingham, former president of the board of education oi New York City, one-third of all the school pupils in the United States are behind in their grades because of some physical defect, such as impaired hearing and vision, enlarged glands or malnutrition. The committee reports that in the vast majority of cases these defects could be cured if taken in band at once. That many millions of the children of tbe United States have physical defects which are retarding their progress, that in most cases these defects are removable, but that in the vast majority they will not be because of ignorance or carelessness are statements startling enough to merit wide attention. If the average throughout the United States is the same as that in New York, there are in our country 1,440,000 ill-nourished children, 5,615,000 with enlarged glands and 6,925,000 with defective breathing. Comprehensive plans for dealing with the physical defects of school children are outlined in the report. These include a thorough physical examination of all children, notification to parents and the enforcement of existing laws. Where proper authority is now lacking it is planned to compel parents to take necessary steps in behalf of their children’s health. Enforcement of health, tenement house and child labor laws and the establishment, in connection with boards of education, of departments of school hygiene, the duties of which shall be to see that school buildings are so constructed and so conducted that they cannot themselves produce or aggravate physical defects, are also recommended.