NEWS AND COMMENT.
Last year Mgr. Touchet, Bishop of Orleans, said in a pastoral letter:
“The question of workingmen’s dwellings will shortly form part of our
plan of operation. It is a national shame to allow these nests of fever
and tuberculosis, for which so dear a rent is paid, to exist. When will
the towns and cities that devote so much money to the erection of schoolNEWS AND COMMENT. 205
palaces, comprehend, that it is not enough to give light and air to children in school hours, if for the rest of the twenty-four hours they are
shut up in pestilential holes. When will the State Savings Bank be
authorized to lend money at three per cent to the Societe d’habitations
ouvrieres a bon marche? Here then is a useful and honorable campaign
waiting to be taken up by our men’s associations.” The Catholic Social
Congress just held at Limoges has acted upon the bishop’s suggestion,
and has launched a movement for better housing which cannot fail to
strengthen the position of the Church in France, as well as benefit the
working people and their children.
Effects of Coffee Drinking.
To the Editor of The Psychological Clinic,
Sir:?
In the June, 1912, number of The Clinic, Mr. Charles Keen
Taylor published an article on the “Effects of Coffee Drinking upon
Children.” The article showed that a certain group of children varied
in mental ability, according to the amount of coffee consumed; the more
coffee consumed, the less was the height, weight, strength and mental
ability of the children, as measured by their school work. I wish to
take exception to Mr. Taylor’s conclusions, so far as to point out what
seems to me to be the fundamental fact in the case; namely, that the
coffee drinking and the deficiencies noted do not necessarily stand in the
relation of cause and effect to each other, but rather that they are
both effects of one or more underlying causes, such for example as
the poverty, indifference, ignorance or alcoholism of the parent.
I have not the slightest doubt that Mi*. Taylor could have found
a similar relationship between coffee drinking and poor clothing, or
betwen coffee drinking and soiled hands and faces, as he found between
coffee drinking and subnormality in general. A parent who would permit his child to drink three or four cups of coffee per day is exactly
the parent whose child, owing to bad environmental conditions, would
not only be physically below the average, but also would be likely to
make a poor showing in school work.
I am impelled to make this communication at a rather late day
because of the citation of Mr. Taylor’s figures in an article by Dr.
Wallin on “Aspects of Infant and Child Orthogenesis,” in the current
(November, 1912) number of The Clinic. In this the author apparently accepts the conclusion that subnormality is caused by coffee drinking. This may be so, but Mr. Taylor’s article proves only that they
accompany each other. In fact, considering the probable home environment of the coffee drinkers, it seems to me that they make a remarkably
good showing.
(Signed) Charles A. Coulomb,
Supervising Principal, Glenwood School,
November 25, 1912. Philadelphia.
Health Supervision of Minnesota School Children.
The State Board of Health and the Department of Public Instruction of Minnesota wish to lend their aid to the schools of the state in
promoting Health Supervision of School Children. To this end, the
State Board of Health has engaged the services of Dr Ernest B. Hoag,
formerly of the University of California, to help Minnesota towns and
cities to organize health work in schools.
Dr Hoag will travel about the state, spending from one day to two
weeks, as may be required, in the various places needing his services.
It will be his purpose to demonstrate to towns, cities and counties that
rational conservation of the mental and physical health of our school
children is possible and practical with the means already at hand. Three
plans will be proposed:
Organization with a medical officer and nurse or nurses.
Organization with school nurse or nurses only.
(3) Organization by the employment of a simple non-medical
health survey on the part of the teachers only. Such a survey is provided by a series of questions based upon ordinary observation of
physical and mental conditions. The outline for this purpose will be
furnished by the State Board of Health?one for each child. No community need wait for the employment of a medical officer in order to
begin sensible health observation of school children.
Dr Hoag will be available for lectures on Child Hygiene, Medical
Supervision, and related topics, for clubs, institutes, and various other
organizations. The State Board of Health will maintain in its office
in the Capitol Building, St. Paul, a clearing-house of information concerning child hygiene, medical supervision, the teaching of school
hygiene, sex hygiene, and the like.
For further information address Dr IT. M. Bracken, Secretary
State Board of Health, St. Paul, or
Mr. C. G. Schulz, Superintendent of Public Instruction, St. Paul.
Virginia Campaign for School Children’s Health.
During seven years as professor of education at the University of
Virginia, Mr. William II. Heck has been making a special propaganda
for the health basis of education. For the session of 1911-12 he was
granted by the Board of Visitors a leave of absence for further investigation in New York City, especially of the medical aspects of school
hygiene. On his return to the University this session he organized a
systematic campaign, representing the University and the State Departments of Health and of Public Instruction.
Professor Heck is now spending four or five days a week in the
field, and on Saturdays at the University he is giving three hours of
lectures in his M.A. course in the Principles of Education. His engagements are grouped in such a way as to cover as large a territory as
possible on one trip. The nucleus of a week’s tour is generally an invitation to a teachers’ institute, in connection with which the division
superintendent plans a series of visits to strategic schools in his county
or city. As only a third of the divisions in Virginia can possibly be
visited in one session, care is taken to choose those where the superintendent and teachers are sufficiently interested in school progress to
assure some application of the suggestions made.
Probably the most far-reaching phase of this campaign is the conference at teachers’ institutes. Professor Ileck will not go to an institute unless he can have a full morning or afternoon session?time
enough to work out in detail several hygienic problems of the schools
represented. For instance, he is trying to abolish the old-time water
bucket with the common dipper and to substitute (a) the sanitary
drinking fountain or spigot, or (b) the water cooler with individual
drinking cups, each cup to be kept in a washable draw-bag, or to be protected by a metal top. Advice is often given as to the source of the
water supply, emptying of coolers every afternoon, cleaning of coolers
with boiling water every week, location of coolers, use during school
hours, cleaning of cups and bags, etc. Another main subject for discussion is janitor service: by whom done?janitor, teacher, pupils;
sweeping?windows down, floors or broom damp, use of wet sawdust or
paper, use of floor oil; care of desks and seats?rubbing once or twice
daily with damp cloth, avoidance of dusters, weekly cleaning of the
inside of desks by pupils under teachers’ guidance; use of footmats and
scrapers; care of grounds and outhouses. Emphasis is placed upon the
responsibility of the principal and teachers for the cleanliness of the
school, no matter who is charged with the work of cleaning. Another
subject is the recess: number and length of recesses, abolition of “keeping in” as a form of punishment; requiring pupils to be out in open
air; necessity in most schools of putting up all windows during recess
and flushing the rooms with pure air; organizing pupils into groups
for games; rainy day recesses; time and place for lunches. These and
similar discussions cover two hours, allowing a little time afterwards
for conversation with individual teachers about their particular problems.
The second phase of the campaign is the talk of thirty to forty
minutes to pupils above the fourth grade. The younger children have
to be reached through parents and teachers. The subject for discussion
is, “A Day of Health for the School Boy or Girl.” The meaning of
health is first explained, with stress upon feeling well and strong; healthy
growth is shown to be needed for success in school and life and the
control of growth for strength or for weakness is related to the daily
life of the child. Then Professor Heck outlines on the blackboard his
schedule for a day of health, emphasizing fresh air in school, at recess,
during the afternoon, and at night, exercise and play, use of a toothbrush
twice a day, and plenty of sleep.
The mothers’ conference in the afternoon generally follows the plan
of the talk to children, thus attempting to unify the aims of mother,
child, and teacher in enforcing the development of the proper health
habits. The afternoon discussion is more extended, includes more subjects, and is enlivened by questions and applications from the mothers.
Colds are the only contagious diseases dwelt upon, and they are given
their full importance. The problem of home study arouses considerable interest and difference of opinion between home and school Professor Heck says that he seldom finds a group of mothers agreeing in
any opinion regarding the physical and moral development of their
children that is not sound and worthy of study by teachers.
Addresses are sometimes given in the evening before a general audience, but Professor Heck does not prefer these meetings in his campaign, because they arte not as effective as informal conferences in the
afternoon. They are valuable, however, in creating public sentiment,
especially where some concerted movement is necessary to build or
remodel a school building.
Professor Heck makes it a rule to inspect the schools visited and
to note the hygienic needs, especially sanitation, drinking water, ventilation, cleaning, and use of window shades. Suggestions on these
matters are made to principals, teachers, or parents and often are discussed with local trustees. Professor Heck is empowered to make official
reports of conditions to the state departments of Health and of Public Instruction. In Orange County, a fairly typical Virginia county,
preparations are being made for a comprehensive survey of the educational hygiene of all the thirty-six schools for white children. This
survey will be made by degrees during the session, as Professor Heck’s
engagements elsewhere will allow. He will report on the location, building, equipment, sanitation, daily schedule, management, etc., of each
school, and on the age, grade, height, and weight of each pupil. Then,
through the philanthropic services of Drs. Flippin, Hedges, and Compton, of the University of Virginia, and Dr Spencer, of Gordonsville,
each pupil will be inspected by medical experts as to the condition of
eyes, ears, nose, throat, teeth, heart, lungs, etc. This investigation will
be unique in kind and extent, and the report will be published by the
state department or the United States Bureau of Education, and widely
distributed. It is suggested that those who wish to receive a copy of the
report, send their names and addresses to Professor Heck.
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.
See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/scanning/
Social Work of the Roman Catholic Church in France
NEWS AND COMMENT.
Last year Mgr. Touchet, Bishop of Orleans, said in a pastoral letter: “The question of workingmen’s dwellings will shortly form part of our plan of operation. It is a national shame to allow these nests of fever and tuberculosis, for which so dear a rent is paid, to exist. When will the towns and cities that devote so much money to the erection of schoolNEWS AND COMMENT. 205 palaces, comprehend, that it is not enough to give light and air to children in school hours, if for the rest of the twenty-four hours they are shut up in pestilential holes. When will the State Savings Bank be authorized to lend money at three per cent to the Societe d’habitations ouvrieres a bon marche? Here then is a useful and honorable campaign waiting to be taken up by our men’s associations.” The Catholic Social Congress just held at Limoges has acted upon the bishop’s suggestion, and has launched a movement for better housing which cannot fail to strengthen the position of the Church in France, as well as benefit the working people and their children.
Effects of Coffee Drinking. To the Editor of The Psychological Clinic, Sir:?
In the June, 1912, number of The Clinic, Mr. Charles Keen Taylor published an article on the “Effects of Coffee Drinking upon Children.” The article showed that a certain group of children varied in mental ability, according to the amount of coffee consumed; the more coffee consumed, the less was the height, weight, strength and mental ability of the children, as measured by their school work. I wish to take exception to Mr. Taylor’s conclusions, so far as to point out what seems to me to be the fundamental fact in the case; namely, that the coffee drinking and the deficiencies noted do not necessarily stand in the relation of cause and effect to each other, but rather that they are both effects of one or more underlying causes, such for example as the poverty, indifference, ignorance or alcoholism of the parent. I have not the slightest doubt that Mi*. Taylor could have found a similar relationship between coffee drinking and poor clothing, or betwen coffee drinking and soiled hands and faces, as he found between coffee drinking and subnormality in general. A parent who would permit his child to drink three or four cups of coffee per day is exactly the parent whose child, owing to bad environmental conditions, would not only be physically below the average, but also would be likely to make a poor showing in school work.
I am impelled to make this communication at a rather late day because of the citation of Mr. Taylor’s figures in an article by Dr. Wallin on “Aspects of Infant and Child Orthogenesis,” in the current (November, 1912) number of The Clinic. In this the author apparently accepts the conclusion that subnormality is caused by coffee drinking. This may be so, but Mr. Taylor’s article proves only that they accompany each other. In fact, considering the probable home environment of the coffee drinkers, it seems to me that they make a remarkably good showing.
(Signed) Charles A. Coulomb, Supervising Principal, Glenwood School, November 25, 1912. Philadelphia. Health Supervision of Minnesota School Children. The State Board of Health and the Department of Public Instruction of Minnesota wish to lend their aid to the schools of the state in promoting Health Supervision of School Children. To this end, the State Board of Health has engaged the services of Dr Ernest B. Hoag, formerly of the University of California, to help Minnesota towns and cities to organize health work in schools.
Dr Hoag will travel about the state, spending from one day to two weeks, as may be required, in the various places needing his services. It will be his purpose to demonstrate to towns, cities and counties that rational conservation of the mental and physical health of our school children is possible and practical with the means already at hand. Three plans will be proposed:
Organization with a medical officer and nurse or nurses.
Organization with school nurse or nurses only.
(3) Organization by the employment of a simple non-medical health survey on the part of the teachers only. Such a survey is provided by a series of questions based upon ordinary observation of physical and mental conditions. The outline for this purpose will be furnished by the State Board of Health?one for each child. No community need wait for the employment of a medical officer in order to begin sensible health observation of school children.
Dr Hoag will be available for lectures on Child Hygiene, Medical Supervision, and related topics, for clubs, institutes, and various other organizations. The State Board of Health will maintain in its office in the Capitol Building, St. Paul, a clearing-house of information concerning child hygiene, medical supervision, the teaching of school hygiene, sex hygiene, and the like. For further information address Dr IT. M. Bracken, Secretary State Board of Health, St. Paul, or Mr. C. G. Schulz, Superintendent of Public Instruction, St. Paul. Virginia Campaign for School Children’s Health.
During seven years as professor of education at the University of Virginia, Mr. William II. Heck has been making a special propaganda for the health basis of education. For the session of 1911-12 he was granted by the Board of Visitors a leave of absence for further investigation in New York City, especially of the medical aspects of school hygiene. On his return to the University this session he organized a systematic campaign, representing the University and the State Departments of Health and of Public Instruction. Professor Heck is now spending four or five days a week in the field, and on Saturdays at the University he is giving three hours of lectures in his M.A. course in the Principles of Education. His engagements are grouped in such a way as to cover as large a territory as possible on one trip. The nucleus of a week’s tour is generally an invitation to a teachers’ institute, in connection with which the division superintendent plans a series of visits to strategic schools in his county or city. As only a third of the divisions in Virginia can possibly be visited in one session, care is taken to choose those where the superintendent and teachers are sufficiently interested in school progress to assure some application of the suggestions made.
Probably the most far-reaching phase of this campaign is the conference at teachers’ institutes. Professor Ileck will not go to an institute unless he can have a full morning or afternoon session?time enough to work out in detail several hygienic problems of the schools represented. For instance, he is trying to abolish the old-time water bucket with the common dipper and to substitute (a) the sanitary drinking fountain or spigot, or (b) the water cooler with individual drinking cups, each cup to be kept in a washable draw-bag, or to be protected by a metal top. Advice is often given as to the source of the water supply, emptying of coolers every afternoon, cleaning of coolers with boiling water every week, location of coolers, use during school hours, cleaning of cups and bags, etc. Another main subject for discussion is janitor service: by whom done?janitor, teacher, pupils; sweeping?windows down, floors or broom damp, use of wet sawdust or paper, use of floor oil; care of desks and seats?rubbing once or twice daily with damp cloth, avoidance of dusters, weekly cleaning of the inside of desks by pupils under teachers’ guidance; use of footmats and scrapers; care of grounds and outhouses. Emphasis is placed upon the responsibility of the principal and teachers for the cleanliness of the school, no matter who is charged with the work of cleaning. Another subject is the recess: number and length of recesses, abolition of “keeping in” as a form of punishment; requiring pupils to be out in open air; necessity in most schools of putting up all windows during recess and flushing the rooms with pure air; organizing pupils into groups for games; rainy day recesses; time and place for lunches. These and similar discussions cover two hours, allowing a little time afterwards for conversation with individual teachers about their particular problems. The second phase of the campaign is the talk of thirty to forty minutes to pupils above the fourth grade. The younger children have to be reached through parents and teachers. The subject for discussion is, “A Day of Health for the School Boy or Girl.” The meaning of health is first explained, with stress upon feeling well and strong; healthy growth is shown to be needed for success in school and life and the control of growth for strength or for weakness is related to the daily life of the child. Then Professor Heck outlines on the blackboard his schedule for a day of health, emphasizing fresh air in school, at recess, during the afternoon, and at night, exercise and play, use of a toothbrush twice a day, and plenty of sleep.
The mothers’ conference in the afternoon generally follows the plan of the talk to children, thus attempting to unify the aims of mother, child, and teacher in enforcing the development of the proper health habits. The afternoon discussion is more extended, includes more subjects, and is enlivened by questions and applications from the mothers. Colds are the only contagious diseases dwelt upon, and they are given their full importance. The problem of home study arouses considerable interest and difference of opinion between home and school Professor Heck says that he seldom finds a group of mothers agreeing in any opinion regarding the physical and moral development of their children that is not sound and worthy of study by teachers.
Addresses are sometimes given in the evening before a general audience, but Professor Heck does not prefer these meetings in his campaign, because they arte not as effective as informal conferences in the afternoon. They are valuable, however, in creating public sentiment, especially where some concerted movement is necessary to build or remodel a school building.
Professor Heck makes it a rule to inspect the schools visited and to note the hygienic needs, especially sanitation, drinking water, ventilation, cleaning, and use of window shades. Suggestions on these matters are made to principals, teachers, or parents and often are discussed with local trustees. Professor Heck is empowered to make official reports of conditions to the state departments of Health and of Public Instruction. In Orange County, a fairly typical Virginia county, preparations are being made for a comprehensive survey of the educational hygiene of all the thirty-six schools for white children. This survey will be made by degrees during the session, as Professor Heck’s engagements elsewhere will allow. He will report on the location, building, equipment, sanitation, daily schedule, management, etc., of each school, and on the age, grade, height, and weight of each pupil. Then, through the philanthropic services of Drs. Flippin, Hedges, and Compton, of the University of Virginia, and Dr Spencer, of Gordonsville, each pupil will be inspected by medical experts as to the condition of eyes, ears, nose, throat, teeth, heart, lungs, etc. This investigation will be unique in kind and extent, and the report will be published by the state department or the United States Bureau of Education, and widely distributed. It is suggested that those who wish to receive a copy of the report, send their names and addresses to Professor Heck.
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.
See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/scanning/