The question may be raised as to the legal right of the school authorities of a city to com pel a parent to supply remedial relief to a child who needs treatment and in case of a parent's inability to provide such relief or treatment, the right of the school authorities to supply the same. It is a well-established common-law rule that a parent is lawfully bound to provide for the support of his infant children. In many States the penal law makes it a misdemeanor for a parent to omit wilfully °without lawful excuse, to perform a duty by law imposed upon him to furnish food, cloth ing, shelter or medical attendance of a minor.° If a parent fails or refuses to provide neces sary treatment for his child, the school author ities undoubtedly possess the legal power to provide such treatment.
It is as essential to the economic and social interests to make health instruction mandatory in all the schools of the State as it is to make the teaching of English in all the schools of the State mandatory. There are certain fun damental principles which should be followed in the enactment of compulsory health educa tion statutes. These are as follows: First: Health education is a school ques tion, and the responsibility for the administra tion of any school proposition should be placed upon the school authorities. Experience has also demonstrated that the administration of any phase of health education, either medical inspection, physical training, or otherwise, by any other agency will result in waste of funds, in the duplication of effort, in the loss of time and energy on the part of pupils and teachers, and in the usual embarrassments and conflict of authority incident to a division of responsi bility of the general direction of any one prop osition and will, therefore, result in great in efficiency.
Second: A compulsory school statute of any character will be ineffective unless such statute contains a provision which Imposes suitable penalties for the violation of such law or for the failure of the officers who administer the law to properly enforce it. A compulsory health instruction statute should, therefore, contain provisions similar to a compulsory at tendance statute by imposing a forfeiture of public funds for failure to enforce the law and by providing for the removal of officers who were charged with administering the law, for failure to perform their duty.
Third: School authorities should be given the same power to employ health instructors, directors and supervisors and school nurses which they possess in relation to the employ ment of teachers.
Fourt'h: The courses of study for the train ing of teachers in public schools must contain adequate provision for instruction in health subjects, and as adequate provision must be made by the State for the training of school nurses, school physicians and other school health workers as is now made for the training of teachers.
Fifth. A State bureau should be maintained in every State department of education which shall give general direction to the health work by providing courses of study, formulating plans for the execution of the work, and de veloping public sentiment which shall give ade' quate aid and support for health instruction in every community of the State.