Page:Labour and childhood.djvu/28

 There is the blind group, then, in our schools. But above them there is another section of children, who are not blind, but whose vision is such that the ordinary school education must injure them. These have to be discovered and provided for; but they cannot be discovered, treated, and provided for without medical aid.

Then there is the group of skin diseases—a formidable one. Dr. Leslie MacKenzie mentions nine or ten distinct skin diseases found in our schools, and they are, of course, nearly all very contagious. Most of them, indeed, are passed round from one child to its neighbour as quickly almost as flame is passed from one dry grass-blade to another. Yet they are all preventible [sic], and most of them, though by no means all, can be quickly as well as perfectly banished.

The majority of parents have a horror of them all—or of nearly all. And the majority of children, therefore, would be safe from them did safety depend on their home-life. But it does not depend entirely on that, for they go to school. So a very large class of children run grave risks at schools. Many people, of course, will not let their children run risks. It is certain that the bulk of the middle classes will avoid the elementary schools until many diseases