This led to an extension of the scope of medical inspection to include
the physical examination of school children with the aim of
discovering whether or not they were suffering from such defects as
would handicap their educational progress and prevent them from
receiving the full benefit of the free education furnished by the
state. This work was in its infancy five years ago, but today
Cleveland has a thorough and comprehensive system of physical
examination of its school children.
Surprising numbers of children have been found who, through defective
eyesight, have been seriously handicapped in their school work. Many
are found to have defective hearing. Other conditions are found which
have a great and formerly unrecognized influence on the welfare,
happiness, and mental vigor of the child. Attention has been directed
to the real significance of adenoids and enlarged tonsils, of swollen
glands and carious teeth.
Teachers and parents have come to realize that the problem of the
pupil with defective eyesight may be quite as important to the
community as that of the pupil who has some contagious disease. If a
child who is unable to see distinctly is placed in a school where
physical defects are unrecognized and disregarded, headaches,
eyestrain, and failure follow all his efforts at study. He cannot see
the blackboards and charts; printed books are indistinct or are seen
only with much effort, everything is blurred. Neither he nor his
teacher knows what is the matter, but he soon finds it impossible to
keep pace with his companions, and, becoming discouraged, he falls
behind in the unequal race.
In no better plight is the child suffering from enlarged tonsils and
adenoids, which prevent proper nasal breathing and compel him to keep
his mouth open in order to breathe. Perhaps one of his troubles is
deafness. He is soon considered stupid. This impression is
strengthened by his poor progress in school. Through no fault of his
own he is doomed to failure. He neglects his studies, hates his
school, leaves long before he has completed the course, and is well
started on the road to an inefficient and despondent life.
Public schools are a public trust. When the parent delivers his child
to their care he has a right to insist that the child under the
supervision of the school authorities shall be safe from harm and
shall be handed back to him in at least as good condition as when it
entered school. Even if the parent does not insist upon it, the child
himself has a right to claim protection. The child has a claim upon
the state and the state a claim upon the child which demands
recognition. Education without health is useless. It would be better
to sacrifice the education if, in order to attain it, the child must
lay down his good health as a price. Education must comprehend the
whole man and the whole man is built fundamentally on what he is
physically.