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Show PLEA FOR MORONS AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN More Separate Classes and Buildings for Them Alone ' Are Recommended NEW YORK. March I. What 1 the place of the ungraded child In the New York public school system? There ere about 15, 000 ungraded children In this city. The term "ungraded may be I used to designate several different I types of children. In some localities I It covers defective children, foreigners Aymar waa chairman, and on motion ot 1 -resident William J. McAullffe baa recommended that special schools for ungraded children be established, one at least in each borough. Kach of tbese buildings Is to have Its own principal prin-cipal and will contain only the mentally mental-ly defective. Mr. McAullffe s resolution resolu-tion was almost unanimously adopted. There were some objections to It. one protest came from Principal Frank T. Arnold, who said that the ungraded class In a school Is now known to the other pupils as "the crasy class." He said that If a number of such classes were put Into one building It would come to be known aa "the crasy school." This, he thought, would be unpleasant to the parents of the children, chil-dren, lie declared that the transportation transpor-tation of the children would present a difficult problem. They would have to be accompanied by police, and It would be difficult to take them long distances dis-tances to each school. The principal of such a building, in his opinion, would hare a very hard time keeping the children In order. In answer to his objection It waa taied that the parents of the normal children had to be considered as well as the parents of the subnormal, and even children who present behavior problems. Sometimes the foreign-born child Is placed In ungraded clasaes if ha fulls to measure up to the standards of the normal American child. Often his failure la not due to mental defect, but to .lack of understanding of the English Eng-lish language, and he ahould not be classed as a mental defective until much existence of mental deficiency has been established. There waa a boy In one of these ungraded classes, and he might have remained there soma time because he did not readily understand Kngllsh. but one day a Latin phrase waa presented to the class and the boy said he understood It perfectly. He was further questioned, and It waa learned that be had a good knowledge of other oth-er languages than L tin. He was taken cut of the class. He Is now a professor In one of this city's universities. univer-sities. THREE-YEAR HANDICAP. Analogous to the foreign-born type la the congenltally deaf child, who is also some times placed In ungraded classes. Often there ezlsta no defect other than that of deafness. It Is Impossible Im-possible to examine by ordinary tests a young- deaf child who has had no training. On account of his deafness he bss been cut off entirely from ail that the presence of ungraded pupils in a school had a bad Influence upon the normal children. The ungraded child might get to hla school without police supervision. MENTAL DEFECTIVES CLASSIFIED. ! Among the mental defectives are, high grade morons, or defective children chil-dren with the mentality of a normal child of S to It years; Imbeciles, or defectives de-fectives of the mentality of a normal child of 1 to 7 years; Idiots, or defectives defec-tives of the mentality of a normal child of 2 years; cretins, the defective, defec-tive, the delinquent and the feeble minded with criminal tendencies. The last report ot the United States bureau of census says; In the interest of normal children, the teachers' council committee reported, report-ed, and of society at large, and for the welfare of the mental defective himself, him-self, no mentally defective child should be In classes for normal children. Mentally Men-tally defective children ahould be arg-regsted. arg-regsted. - If capable of being trained In the public schools, they ahould be in special schools for mental defectives. Ail typea ot morons, aigh. AUia aad mentai oewiopment which comes through language. This type, without training, is usually three years behind the normal child. With proper tn-atructlon tn-atructlon he quickly reaches the normal nor-mal standard, despite this handicap. The board of education has endeavored endeav-ored to separate the subnormal from the normal child and has established aboat twt ungraded classes Into which are put the mentally defective children. Teacnera, specially trained, are employed em-ployed to look after these pupils. Owing Ow-ing to their condition. It Is not thought advisable te ask a teacher to look after aft-er more than fifteen of these children. It is found that usually the mentally defective child -on the school playground play-ground will select one of his own kind as a playmate rather than a normal child. When a normal child la selected select-ed It is one of the same mentality as the mentally defective, that la years younger than be so that the sight Is presented of good sized children with smaller ones ss playmates. The teachers' council has Just received re-ceived a report on ungraded classes Irura a committee ot which. Mmtj A. low, should receive training. Some are manifestly institutional cases. These cases should .not be placed in ungraded classes, but should be recoauasaded. for pi-oement la inautuliona. |