The reader wonders why four schools are neglected and which particular schools they are. Let the next table read: Parents begin to wonder whether or not their children were examined, and why the taxes spent for school examination of all children go to one third of the children. The next table arrests attention : We ask, at once, if examination is worth while, and if treatment really corrects the defects, saves the pupil's time and teacher's time, discovers many defects; and we want to find out whether the one hundred and fifty reported not treated have since been attended to. Again, if three out of five of those examined need treatment, people will wonder whether among the thousand not examined there is the same proportion three out of five, or six hundred - who have some trouble that needs attention. Having begun to wonder, they will ask questions, and will expect the board of health or the school physicians to see that the questions are answered. As has been proved in New York, taxpayers and the press will go farther and will demand that the annual budget provide for making general next year the benefits found to result last year from a test of health policies. The story of the prevalence of contagious diseases in school children could be told by a table such as is now in use by New York's department of health: Another table shows the following facts for each disease: TABLE XIII CONTAGIOUS DISEASES FOUND IN SCHOOLS BY INSPECTORS AND NURSES (Number and disposition of cases) 1 Smallpox, diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles, chicken pox, mumps, and whooping cough; excluded when found. 2 Trachoma and other contagious eye diseases, ringworm, impetigo, scabies, favus, and pediculosis; excluded only for persistent nontreatment. The story of noncontagious physical defects found and treated is set forth in the following table: TABLE XIV MEDICAL EXAMINATION OF SCHOOL CHILDREN: NONCONTAGIOUS PHYSICAL DEFECTS FOUND AND TREATED, 1906 The effect of a report telling what schools have enough seats, proper ventilation, adequate medical inspection, safe drinking water, ample play space, and what schools are without these necessities, is to cause the reader to rank |