THE AUSTRALIAN CHILD BODY. 



777 



''The chief reason for this discrepancy between the ideal and the 

 real is simple ignorance."'" It is heresy to accuse an educationist of 

 ignorance as Professor Butler has done, but indifference would be a 

 worse charge. Ignorance of the physical side of child life hangs over 

 our educational systems like a pall, blotting out from thousands 

 upon thousands of teachers the real object and value of their life's 

 work. Operating a physically unnatural system — for all modern 

 methods of education are of necessity unnatural— he makes no 

 ^.ttempt to fit the delicate growing organism to its physical environ- 

 ment. That physical environment is an all-controlling factor in the 

 development of the spiritual side, yet he takes no account of it, for 

 he does not know how to observe it. So he continues for a lifetime 

 to attempt to force impressions through eyes which cannot see, cind 

 ears which cannot hear, to reach brains somnolent and unresponsive 

 from carbonic acid poisoning. Worse, he may punish the victims for 

 the physical defects for which they are not responsible. Here are 

 some observations made during an examination of a large number of 

 school children before our Tasmanian system of Medical Inspection 

 of State Schools was instituted. In all these instances the teachers 

 were particularly skilful and experienced '' educationists," really 

 interested in their work. 



A.B., age 11|. Teacher ngtes: "Position low, improving 

 very slowly, often complains of headache, not fond of work, very 

 regular, well-behaved, dull." Condition found on examination: Eye- 

 sight j% both eyes, probable astigmatism, history of severe headaches, 

 evident strain ; hearing defective, history of mattery discharge and 

 " sore ears;" health appearance bad, thin, frail, fiat-chest; poor chest 

 measurement. 



CD., age 10y\. Teacher notes: "Mental capacity medium, 

 position low, no physical defects." Condition found : Filthily dirty, 

 and insufficiently and raggedly clad ; body and head verminous ; eye- 

 sight bad (y\ and yV ); post nasal growths marked; enlarged tonsils; 

 defective hearing; lateral curvature of the spine. 



E.F., age lly^ Teacher notes: "Good mental capacity, regular 

 in attendance, no physical defects." Conditions found: Eyesight -j-^o 

 lateral curvature of the spine; profuse discharge from both ears, and 

 mastoid tenderness ; treatment very urgently required. 



In these, and scores of other similar cases, noted during the same 

 series of observations, there was nothing to prevent any teacher 

 possessing the most reasonable powers of observation from detecting 

 the conditions found by the medical examiner. The only explanation 

 is ignorance of the physical part of the child. It is useless to argue 

 that these matters should be attended to by parents, for the only 

 person intimately connected with the average child who is less 

 obseiyant of its physical condition than is the average teacher is the 

 average parent. Since the inception of our medical inspection 

 system the percentage of defective children originally reported by 

 teachers, in our City schools, is steadily rising, a further proof, were 

 proof needed, of the previous ignorance of such matters. It is also a 

 satisfactoiy proof that such ignorance can be overcome with beneficial 

 ■results to the children. 



