It is difficult for the expert to draw the line between these two
classes, and parents and teachers are loth to admit that the morons
are defective. This problem can best be solved by the establishment
of special classes in the public schools for all who lag more than
one year behind. If for no other reason, the normal children should
be relieved of the drag of these backward pupils. The special
classes will become the clearing houses. The training should be
largely manual and industrial and as practical as possible. As the
number of classes in any school district increases, the
classification will sift out those who are merely backward and a
little coaching and special attention will return them to the
grades. The others--the morons--will remain and as long as they are
not dangerous to society (sexually or otherwise) they may live at
home and attend the special classes. As they grow older they will
be transferred to proper custodial institutions. In the city
districts, where there are many classes, this will occur between
twelve and sixteen years of age. In the country districts it will
occur earlier.
These institutions will be the training schools and will form the center
for the training and care of the other two groups, i. e., the imbeciles
and idiots. Branching out from the training schools should be colonies
(unless the parent institution is on a very large tract of ground, which
is most advisable). These colonies, or groups of comparatively small
buildings, should be of two classes. For the imbeciles, simple buildings
costing from two to four hundred dollars per inmate. The units might
well be one hundred. A unit providing four dormitories, bath house,
dining-halls, employees' buildings, pump house, water tank, sewage
disposal, laundry, stables and farm buildings can be built within the
above figures providing the buildings are of simple construction and one
story. This has been done at Vineland by having the larger imbecile and
moron boys make the cement blocks of which the buildings are
constructed.
For the idiots the construction can be much the same. Larger porches
facing the south and more toilet fixtures will be necessary, and so add
a little to the cost.
The colony should be located on rough uncleared land--preferable
forestry land. Here these unskilled fellows find happy and useful
occupation, waste humanity taking waste land and thus not only
contributing toward their own support, but also making over land that
would otherwise be useless.
One reason for building inexpensive buildings is that having cleared a
large tract--say 1,000 acres--the workers can be moved to another waste
tract and by brushing, clearing of rocks, draining and what not,
increase its value sufficiently to keep on moving indefinitely.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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