SECRETARY COMMITTEE ON THE HYGIENE OF SCHOOL CHILDREN, PUBLIC EDUCATION
ASSOCIATION
Kate Douglas Wiggin, in one of her most appealing stories, tells of a
child who was walking in a garden with his mother when they came upon a
misshapen tree. In reply to the mother’s question as to why the tree was
crooked the child replied that he guessed someone had stepped on it when
it was little. So it is with many of the children in our larger
cities—they get stepped on physically, intellectually and spiritually
when they are young.
Little Ivan, whose mother had come here from Russia after passing
through we know not how many scenes of terror and suffering, bore the
stamp of her misery on his face and in his soul. When he came to a New
York public school at eight years of age it seemed impossible that
teacher and textbook should be able to do anything for him. He was
ragged and dirty and could not speak. But after patient effort the
teacher of the special class, where he had been put, found that he was
not a mute and that he did understand English. Next, his mother was
seen, and she became so interested in her boy’s welfare that his ragged
days were brought to an end. A new suit of clothes and a clean face
transformed him into an intelligent and alert looking youngster. Now he
is struggling with the words, “boy and ran, dog and book,” and is
attacking the other branches with some notion of what they are all
about. His destructive tendency is being dealt with firmly and
patiently, and there are great hopes that some day Ivan may develop into
a normal and sturdy boy.
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