Civics and HealthAllen, William H. (WIlliam Harvey)
Science
Civics and Health
Allen, William H. (WIlliam Harvey)
Hygiene; Public health
What, then, is this test of home conditions prejudicial to health that
will register the fact as a thermometer tells us the temperature, or as
a barometer shows moisture and air pressure? The house address alone is
not enough, for many children surrounded by wealth are denied health
rights, such as the right to play, to breathe pure air, to eat
wholesome food, to live sanely. Scholarship will not help, because the
frailest child is often the most proficient. Manners mislead, for, like
dress, they are but externals, the product of emulation, of other
people's influence upon us rather than of our living conditions.
Nationality is an index to nothing significant in America, where all
race and nationality differences melt into Americanisms, all responding
in about the same way to American opportunity. No, our test must be
something that cannot be put on and off, cannot be left at home, cannot
be concealed or pretended, something inseparable from the child and
beyond his control. This test it has been conclusively proved in
Chicago, Boston, Brookline, Philadelphia, and particularly in New York
City, is the physical condition of the school child. To learn this
condition the child must be examined and reexamined for the physical
signs called for by the card on page 34. Weight, height, and
measurements are needed to tell the whole story.
When this card is filled out for every child in a class or school or
city, the story told points directly to physical, mental, or health
rights neglected. If for every child there is begun a special card,
that will tell his story over and over again during his school life,
noting every time he is sick and every time he is examined, the
progress of the community as well as of the child will be clearly
shown. Such a history card (p. 314) is now in use in certain New York
schools, as well as in several private schools and colleges.
Have you ever watched such an examination? By copying this card your
family physician can give you a demonstration in a very short time as
to the method and advantage of examination at school. The school
physician goes at nine o'clock to the doctor's room in the public
school, or, if there is no doctor's room, to that portion of the hall
or principal's office where the doctor does his work. The teacher or
the nurse stands near to write the physician's decision. The doctor
looks the child over, glances at his eyes, his color, the fullness of
his cheeks, the soundness of his flesh, etc. If the physician says "B,"
the principal or nurse marks out the other letter opposite to number 1,
so that the card shows that there is bad nutrition.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account