The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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January, 1927 The Health Bulletin 15
cause pathological timidity and sensitiveness.
Mothers play on the love of
their children and threaten them with
its loss. What wonder that love itself
soon begins to mean nothing to the
child Then the parent complains of
the child, when really the parent is at
fault.
The fearful child has a serious handicap.
Fear of the darl!, fear of animals,
fear of people, fear of mysterious and
unknown forces all these are trained
into the child by the parents, who have
the same fears, or expect these fears in
the children, or implant them in the
child by threats.
People threaten the child with the
doc-tor. They threaten him with medicine.
Then, when a doctor or medicine
is needed, the child is in a panic. Never
threaten a child with something which
he may presently have to experience for
hi8 own good.
One mother threatened to throw her
child from a third-story window. Many
other threats are just as absurd.
Sometimes terrible punishments are
carried out. One family wanted to
break a boy of six of a habit. They
punished and threatened with no effect.
Finally, a ghostly figure woke him at
night and carried him out of the house
and left him alone in the dark. He does
not know that his sister was the masquerader.
He does know that there are
ghosts. He is frightened by all sorts
of things. Most of his mental effort is
absorbed in terror. So he does poor
school work and fails to get along well
with other children.
A boy of four never falls asleep but
that he dreams he has been carried
away by the "bogey-man" and thrown
in a deep pit. He awakens shrieking
and holding on to his crib. His mother
continues to threaten him with the
"bogey-man."'
A boy- of ten misses school frequently.
He is constantly concerned about his
health. A minor ailment or a little
scratch makes him sure that he is going
to die. His mother takes his temperature
every day. She keeps him in bed
for the slightest ailment. She doses
him constantly. She continually worries
over him. She never lets him go out
imless he is overclad. He is her only
child, and he gets the full burden of
her worries. He receives so much attention
that he craves it wherever he
is. He is a semi-invalid, though actually
a strong and healthy boy.
Let your child have some independence.
He can think. Give him reasons.
Guide him carefully. Do not terrorize
him. Never make promises or threaten
a punishment that you cannot carry
out. Always make good on your word.
Punish him for his acts, not for your
own. Train him properly in the first
five years, and the rest of the way will
be much easier. You must grow with
your child. Parents take credit for
the desirable reactions in a child
ivhy
not Name for the undes'irahle
Being a Proper Parent is the Most
Important Jot) any of us Has. We Live
in Our Children, So it Behooves Us to
do a Good Jol).
INSULIN FOR EMERGENCY USE
Doctor Elliott P. Joslin, Boston,
Massachusetts, who is the author of
several books on diabetes and who is
an internationally known authority on
the subject, has recommended to the
Massachusetts State Medical Society
that every physician in that state
should be furnished with a one hundred
unit package of insulin to be used as
an emergency treatment, when called
to see a case of diabetes, until a further
supply can be obtained. We pass this
suggestion along to the physicians of
North Carolina for the reason that Dr.
Joslin states to the effect that if a
physician is called, especially out of
town, at night say, and finds a diabetic
patient on the verge of coma, next
morning would be too late to prevent
death from coma, whereas the instantaneous
use of insulin in such cases
would frequently be the means of saving
a life. Dr. Joslin also insists that
insulin keeps for a great length of time,
and it is therefore perfectly practicable
and easy for a physician not only to
carry insulin in his bag for a year
without deterioration but that every
physician should have an additional
supply kept at his office for use without
delay when needed.