Page:This side the trenches, with the American Red cross (IA thissidetrenches00desc).pdf/34

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covered that, as frequently happens after measles, his eyes had become so weak that they required glasses. Now that the boy is no longer suffering from defective vision he is making excellent marks in school.

Frequently a child does not advance in his studies because they do not interest him. The daughter of a soldier failed to do well at a trade school where she was taking lessons in sewing. The Home Service worker found the girl one afternoon leading her brothers and sisters in calisthenics. Finding that the child's interests were in this direction she persuaded the mother to allow her daughter to enter a physical culture school where she is now fitting herself to be a gymnasium instructor.

When the time comes for the boy to start work it means much to his success in life that he enter an occupation which offers him a future and one in which he is fitted by inclination and ability to engage. In the larger cities there are men ahd women who specialize in giving advice to young people about the kind of employment they ought to seek. This is called vocational guidance. It depends largely upon a knowledge of the ability, education, and inclination of the child, and about the occupations which are open to him. When specialists in vocational guidance are available, Home Service obtains their help for the boys and girls of soldiers and sailors. In towns where they are not to be found, such advice is supplied as effectively as possible by the Home Service workers themselves.

Equally important with education is health. The Red Cross not only obtains treatment for the families of soldiers and sailors when there is sickness, but it also