EDUCATION 



1948 



EDUCATION 



defect in the nervous mechanism. Immediate 

 attention is always demanded in every case. 



Hysteria. Hysteria is mentioned only to 

 caution against the use of this word in con- 

 nection with nervous manifestations of uncon- 

 trol which are really not hysterical in nature at 

 all. True hysteria is a serious disorder when 

 it really is present. There are generally areas 

 in the body which are unusually painful, and 

 others which are quite sensitive to pain. Fre- 



quently the hysterical person falls, and seems' 

 to be quite unconscious. 



Often there are strange contortions of the 

 whole body and more or less paralysis may be 

 present. Sometimes such an hysterical per- 

 son will be unable to walk for weeks, months, 

 or years. In many cases the imagination is 

 very strongly affected there may be actual 

 hallucinations. Lying and other moral delin- 

 quencies may be observed in some cases. E.B.H. 



Compulsory Education 



By compulsory education is meant the right 

 of society, acting through the state, to compel 

 a certain amount of attendance at school. The 

 modern government may support education, it 

 may control and manage it, and it may enforce 

 on an individual, on the theory that education 

 strengthens the nation. In recent years it has 

 become more and more common for a govern- 

 ment not only to enforce a certain number of 

 years of school attendance, but to insist, fur- 

 ther, that the child who has completed the re- 

 quired number of years of study must also 

 possess a certain amount of knowledge. If he 

 fails to pass the examinations which are given 

 to determine this he is not permitted to leave 

 school. In general, the countries which have 

 compulsory education require the attendance 

 of all children between the ages of six and 

 fourteen or six and sixteen years of age, for a 

 certain number of months during each year, 

 either in a public or in a private school. Laws 

 compelling such attendance are in force in Great 

 Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, 

 Denmark and France, but in the other Euro- 

 pean countries, while such laws may be on the 

 statute books, they are not rightly enforced. 

 In the United States and Canada such laws 

 exist and are in the main very well enforced. 



Canada. Compulsory attendance laws have 

 been passed by all the Canadian provinces 

 except Quebec. Ontario has the most efficient 

 system of public instruction in the Dominion, 

 and its laws for compelling attendance have 

 served as a model for the other provinces, the 

 regulations in each case being modified by 

 local conditions. In- Ontario parents and 

 guardians are compelled by law to secure the 

 education of children in their care who are be- 

 tween the ages of eight and fourteen, either 

 in private or in public schools. In connection 

 with this regulation is a labor law which for- 

 bids the employment of children under, four- 

 teen. Vicious children and those who refuse to 



submit to discipline must be placed in indus- 

 trial schools. Every city, town and incorpo- 

 rated village must have one or more truant 

 officers, and these officials are given ample 

 authority to investigate all cases of truancy. 

 Throughout Canada compulsory laws are en- 

 forced much more carefully in the cities than 

 in the rural districts. 



The United States. Compulsory education 

 in the United States was first enforced in 

 Massachusetts Colony in 1642, but the state 

 did not require such attendance until 1852, 

 and the first really satisfactory law was en- 

 acted in 1872. In 1878 it was provided that 

 state grants of money could be withheld from 

 towns which did not enforce the truancy laws. 

 The present law prohibits the employment of 

 children during the hours of school session 

 and requires the presentation of a certificate 

 issued by the school authorities in the case of 

 employment of children under sixteen. 



Connecticut had an early history similar to 

 that of Massachusetts, but in 1872 a bill was 

 passed which has probably given that state the 

 best compulsory system possessed by any state. 

 In Connecticut both the child labor laws and 

 the compulsory education laws are in the hands 

 of state agents, and are very rigidly enforced. 

 The District of Columbia passed compulsory 

 attendance laws in 1864; Vermont in 1867; 

 New Hampshire, Michigan and Washington, 

 1871; New Mexico, 1872; Nevada, 1873; New 

 York, Kansas and California, 1874; Maine and 

 New Jersey, 1875 ; Wyoming, 1876 ; Ohio, 1877 ; 

 Wisconsin, 1878; Rhode Island, Illinois, Dakota 

 and Montana, 1883. 



In about one-third of the states free books 

 are furnished by law to those whose parents 

 are too poor to provide them. In two states, 

 Colorado and Ohio, local authorities are author- 

 ized to furnish free clothing for those children 

 who have to stay away from school because 

 they are not properly dressed. Compulsory 



