“The School and the Child” _ THE REPORT OF A JOINT COMMITTEE MADE - UP OF COMMITTEES from THE COLLEGE CLUB, ~ THE COLLEGE EQUAL SUFFRAGE LEAGUE, _ THE ASSOCIATION of COLLEGIATE ALUMNAE “The School and the Child”’ The Report of a Joint Committee MADE UP OF COMMITTEES FROM The College Club The College Equal Suffrage League The Association of Collegiate Alumnae Columbus, Ohio 1911 FOREWARD. The following pamphlet represents the work of a Joint Committee made up of three committees; one from the College Club, a second from the College Equal Suf- frage League, a third from the Association of Collegiate Alumnae. This Joint Committee had as its theme for study, “The School and the Child,’ a problem which a committee in the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, during the pre- ceding year (1909-10), found so interesting that the execu- tive board of the association decided to continue the work of this committee for a second year. Each member of the Joint Committee followed two lines of study, the one practical, the other theoretical. The practical work involved a specified amount of school visit- ing in order to learn as much as possible of the Columbus schools in relation to the Columbus child. Hand in hand with this study of things as they are went a large amount of reading and some correspondence with educational experts outside of Columbus in order to arrive at some knowledge of forward movements in educa- tional theory and practice. This pamphlet records chiefly the results of such out- side study, though, in one or two instances, both aspects of the work of the Joint Committee are admirably pre- sented. salle Beginning in November, the Joint Committee has held five meetings. At each successive meeting, the inter- est in educational problems so increased that, at the final meeting in March, when the work for which the commit- tees were appointed was completed, a motion was made to form from these committees a permanent organization. So has originated in Columbus a “Home and School Association,” destined, it is hoped by those who have in- spired it, to help in the solution of many difficult problems 3 4 THE SCHOOL AND THE CHILD. of the school and the home, and to assist every other or- ganization in Columbus which has, as its primary aim, the conservation of the child. The special aim of “The Columbus Home and School Association” and its present organization are given in a separate leaflet. The members of the Joint Committee, who are also, with a few exceptions, the authors of this pamphlet, are as follows: THE COLLEGE CLUB. Mrs. George Beecher Kauffman, Chairman. Mrs. Frank C. Kelton. Miss Mary Bohannon. Miss Olive Jones. Miss Florence Covert. Mrs. Herman Hall. Miss Grace Eagleson. Mrs. Dora Sandoe Bachman. THE COLLEGE EQUAL SUFFRAGE LEAGUE. Mrs. William McPherson, Chairman. Mrs. Wilbur H. Siebert. Mrs. Charles A. Bruce. Mrs. Francis L. Landacre. Mrs. Homer C. Price. THE ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGIATE ALUMNAE. Mrs. Samuel Carroll Derby, Chairman, Mrs. William Herbert Page. Mrs. John E. Sater. Mrs. Ernest L. Jaros. Mrs, W. A. Paine. Miss Sarah T. Barrows. Mrs. Thomas E, Powell, HYGIENE IN EDUCATION. “Physical and mental strength and physical and mental weak- ness go hand in hand.” — Edson. “Nutrition is responsible for much that passes for heredity.” — Patten. “Education is a productive expenditure, not mere charity.” — Dietrich. Just when or how John and Mary, as public school children, ceased to be an abstract proposition, to be dealt with by rule, and became in the public mind creatures of fiesh and blood, with all the limitations of the flesh, and all the insistent demands of the blood, it would be hard to state, so gradually has the change been wrought. But certainly the livest question in home and educa- tional circles today is what to do with John the individual and Mary the individual. There is a distinct turning away from the former dis- position to regard them only as merged in the aggregate where by some hidden working power each would be raised or reduced to a common level—the level for which the school work of a past generation was designed. So long as that imaginary unit (the average child) served as the measure of educational effort—the schools like a huge machine took in the children, put on a pressure, and pushed out from the mass as many as possible of uniform grade or attainment. The remainder were either put through again, an added expense, or dropped out alto- gether—a still greater loss to the community. In time the number of those who could not take the imprint of the schools become so great that something had to be done. For one thing, more attention was given to physical conditions and medical inspection of school children was established. With its advent came a revolution in the way of look- ing at school problems, 5 THE SCHOOL AND THE CHILD. Cx Medical inspection not only did the work for which it was called in, and did it well, but it rendered an even greater service in the attention it called to conditions hitherto unsuspected or unheeded, and gradually the con- viction has grown in the public mind that it is school con- ditions quite as much as the school child that need re- adjustment. Of the many experiments conducted by school men and school doctors with a view to fitting the schools to the needs of modern life, none have awakened a livelier in- terest than the out-door school. The first school of the kind was established by the city of Charlottenburg in 1904, and was the outcome of the close co-operation of the school superintendent and the school doctor. The children chosen for it were all behind their grades and gave every evidence of failing altogether if kept in the city schoolroom. In giving the results of the first season’s experiment, Dr Neufert, the superintendent of the Charlot- tenburg schools, reported: ‘That all of the children when returned to the ordinary school were fully up with their former classmates and many were far in advance. This was attained in spite of the fact that the time given to formal instruction was only one-half. This aston- ishing result gave food for reflection. If sickly, debilitated children could with half time formal instruction, fresh air—food—rest and movement be brought as far and farther than children in ordinary schools with full time instruction, what could be done with normal children in the open air under similar conditions.” It seems altogether possible that Berlin may answer that question in the near future, for it is now proposed to take all her public schools into the country to a distance not exceeding fifteen miles from the capital. Those who advocate this change think that the existing suburban lines could without difficulty, and without disturbing the exist- ing traffic, convey all the school children of Berlin—num- bering approximately three hundred thousand—to and from schools situated in a belt around the capital. ® is aad an , " THE SCHOOL AND THE CHILD. % It is further argued that the sale of sites of the pres- ent schools in Berlin would yield a sufficiently large sum of money to erect the new schools and to provide a fund from which to pay the car fare of those unable to buy their own tickets. So immediate and so pronounced was the success of the Charlottenburg Forest School—that in a short time it was copied by many other cities. In 1906 the Kultus minister sent a circular letter to his colleagues in Germany describing the school and urging that many more be established. Various educational societies did the same and the Kaiser also warmly advocated them. The open-air recovery schools in Germany, England, _and America have been closely followed by the fresh air rooms in the ordinary school building. In these latter, no food is furnished nor extra clothing. The usual school furniture is dispensed with or re-arranged so as to allow a free use of the floor space. The heat is turned off and by a judicious opening of windows an attempt is made to keep the air as cool and moist and fresh as out of doors. In the winter the children wear the wraps in which they come to school and frequent and special exercises keep them in a glow. Most satisfactory mental results are obtained— Catarrhal troubles disappear, the children grow strong enough to resist the usual contagious diseases and ‘dis. cipline is reduced to a minimum. There is no extra expense incurred by the school board and something may be said to be saved in the way of fuel. “Limp, pallid, physically blighted—is the description given by the head-master of the first open-air school in Chicago—of the children entrusted to his care. He further said they were listless, inattentive, uninteresting and ap- parently without enough energy in their bodies to light their minds.” 8 THE SCHOOL AND THE CHILD. And yet within a year that school was reported as one where not a child failed. Columbus, this spring, is to try out both plans. In Fieser building—the school board has ordered es- tablished a fresh air room and in the western part of the city the Columbus Society for the Prevention and Cure of Tuberculosis plans to secure land on which to establish an open air recovery school for which the school board will furnish the teacher—the school equipment, and the school supplies. While the tuberculosis society has taken the initiative and made the school possible by furnishing site and build- ing and agreeing to be responsible for all details relating to the health of the children, the school itself will be a part of the Columbus Public School System and under the close supervision of the superintendent. It is hoped it may prove as fruitful a field of experi- ment as such schools elsewhere and that many a school problem may here find its solution. THE TRUANCY PROBLEM IN OUR SCHOOLS. The truant is the child who absents himself from school without permission or in the parlance of the child he is the boy who “plays hookey.” The boy is not necessarily a bad boy because he plays truant—that is, the first few times. He is usually a child at the restless age—from ten to fourteen years of age. The banks of the creeks and the rivers with the first signs of spring call him. Lessons are uninteresting. He wants a change. He wants to fish, or swim, or follow a circus parade. He feels the need of change. The teacher may be one who also has a yearning for the out-of-doors— Natal oti) and she will understand this “call of the wild” in a boy’s nature—and she will be wise and know how to control this tendency toward truancy—and so will not have to report — THE SCHOOL AND THE CHILD. 9 him to the truant officer. It is well for the boy if he happens to have the right sort of a teacher. Unfortunately in our city it is more often the ten-cent show, the circus, the empty box car, the desire to earn money, and the gang in the alley than the woodsy smell of the country which tempts the boy from the school, He wants excitement. School work bores him. The laws of Ohio in regard to education and child labor are all that could be desired. They have the child’s best interest at heart; but the laws are evaded. They are not enforced. Parents often lie about their children’s ages —so children under fourteen are in factories, and in other occupations. They are on the streets selling papers and chewing gum. In Columbus there is one truant officer and two assistants. They are kept busy looking up cases which are reported to them. The teacher keeps a report of daily attendance. Each child who is absent must bring an excuse when he returns to school. When the teacher finds or suspects that a child has played truant she often visits the home and becomes acquainted with the mother. The parents are often to blame. The child is often kept at home on the slightest pretext or allowed to stay at home for no reason. No wonder the child does not feel it any harm to stay away from school once in a while without permission. There is need of mothers’ meetings in some of the school districts where the teachers can meet and talk with the mothers, The mothers do not realize the harm they are doing to their children in keeping them out of school. So often they say the child is needed to “tend the baby,” or has no fit clothes. There is a law which says: “Tf a child is really needed at home to help support the family and cannot afford to go to school, the child shall be furnished free text-books and such other relief as may he necessary to enable him to attend school for the time each year required by law. Such expenses incident for the relief must be paid from the contingent fund of the school district. Such a child shall not be considered or declared a pauper by reason of the acceptance of the relief. If a child or parent refuses 10 THE SCHOOL AND THE CHILD. to take advantage of this provision the child can be taken from the parent or guardian.” This law is a dead letter. There is no such “contingent fund” in any school district. In Columbus needy children have often been helped by funds collected in the schools for charitable purposes. The women of the Federated Clubs in Toledo have raised money to keep children in school. This law should not be allowed to be a dead law. It is needed for the good of the child. The contingent fund should be available—and it could be! In several buildings in our city individual schools have been opened, where backward children are given special care. This increases their interest in school work, and they attend more regularly. When the truant officer finds a child is a habitual truant he is sent to a school for incorrigibles, which was opened five years ago at the Mound Street School building. Here he is given a chance to redeem himself. Besides the regular school work he is given industrial training and is kept busy with hammers and saws. After a few weeks or months he usually is returned to his school in his own district. These boys need to be dealt with patiently and with tact. One boy who spent a day and a night at the Union Station last week returned to school of his own accord. He told his teacher that he was sorry the minute he knew school had taken up, but that he then was tardy and dreaded to go, so stayed away all day. The teacher answered, “Now the next time you play truant, the very minute you feel sorry you come to school. If it is the last hour of the day, I shall be glad to see you.” The special school has averaged only nine cases 0 truancy per year since it was established five years ago; one case only where the boy was not habituated to truancy. The incorrigible boy has a chance in this school of escaping being sent to the Industrial Farm at Lancaster. No such opportunity is given the girl who does wrong. If it is felt that her influence is bad in a school she can be expelled. And the only place for her is the Delaware School for Girls. Perhaps there are so few incorrigible Pre ree a ; THE SCHOOL AND THE CHILD. 11 girls that a special school is not necessary here in Colum- bus. It seems to me only fair that even one should be given every chance, before blighting her life by sending her to the Girls’ Industrial Home at Delaware. Sewing and domestic science should be taught her. She should be under some special care. Boys have the special school to shield them from the Industrial Farm. Young men have the Mansfield Re- formatory to shield them from the penitentiary. A girl who plays truant can be sent to the Girls’ In- dustrial Home. A girl over eighteen has no reformatory open to her. There is the penitentiary. The inspector of workshops and factories and his as- sistants—eight of whom are women—have the power to act as truant officers, and report cases of child labor. The juvenile court probation officers also act as truant officers. In Toledo a woman visitor was appointed to visit the homes of children who were often absent, She has now been made a truant officer. Indianapolis has a woman truant officer. Cleveland and Cincinnati have more officers in proportion to their population than Columbus. The state inspectors’ cry is for more assistants. The truant officer needs more help. With all these agencies at work, we know there are hundreds of children who are evading the laws, and are growing up in our city in ignorance and blighting their lives in factories. Eternal vigilance on the part of parent, teacher, truant officer is the only salvation for the city’s children. “THE SCHOOL VISITOR.” Today when the school has undertaken practically the entire education of the child, the co-operation of the home, since the home is so potent a factor in the child’s develop- ment, is absolutely necessary. In many communities this connection between the home and the school is made by the parent’s or mother’s 17 THE SCHOOL AND THE CHILD. clubs. This is very easily accomplished in the schools that draw their attendance from the well to do classes or from those classes in which the English language is well under- stood. ““In the poorer districts, especially where the foreign element prevails, this plan is not wholly practicable. * Hence it would seem desirable that some official, such as a so- called school visitor, should go from the school to the home; such an official might in the school find what the needs of the child may be and give instructions to the parent, and when necessary, see that financial or other assistance is furnished. | In many cities the work of the “School Visitor” is done by the so-called visiting nurses. As early as 1877 visiting nurses were sent out by private enterprise. These nurses acted as teacher, in- spector and trained nurse. In 1886 in the city of New York, nurses were sent out to give instruction in those homes from which came children who needed special care for sickness or defective nutrition. In 1888 the Visiting Nurses Association in Chicago sent out instructing nurses in much the same way. Since that time the board of health, with the co-operation of the board of education have undertaken the work. New York City employs a competent staff of physicians who examine those children who need attention. The nurse then goes to the child’s home and there gives instruction in the care of the child. There is a staff of fifty district nurses, seven nurses who deal with tubercular patients only, and two who look after contagious diseases. These nurses report each day to the central nurses’ settlement, but each lives in the district in which she works. A young colored woman has charge of the colored districts, and in most instances the nurse not only understands, but speaks the language of the district in which she is employed. In Chicago the work of the visiting nurse is made of even greater value in that she 1s made a probation officer in the juvenile court. In this city there is no such medical inspection. What- ever home visiting there may be is carried on by the truant office. Naturally the truant officers reach only the homes THE SCHOOL AND THE CHILD. 13 of pupils who absent themselves from school, so that many homes where the instruction of a visiting nurse or a school visitor would be most valuable are not reached. Indeed, the truant office realizes that it cannot possibly accomplish all that it might were the force larger and the scope of its work greater. The truant office would welcome any as- sistance in the nature of visiting nurses or school visitors that may be offered. The truant officers in visiting-the home of a pupil who has absented himself from school, fill out the following blank, which is kept on file in the office. Form 20C. HOME VISITATION REPORT. SaRNG! hig teens eee Datee rs aan ees eee tN PSP AAN Veet Eilts raves arceersyane co, a oto, caclore) acini ee ezeres Grade isaac ‘PSiRS iain, TE TAINAGR Jer 2 irae ae er fe rere eT a Rane eres Pear ROA | Father Living....| Father Intemperate...... Incorrigible. | Mother Living....| Mother Intemperate......| Out late at night. Stepfather ...... + Pather Indolent