The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1875-03-11
HOW OUR BOYS ARE TREA TED AT
THE REFORM SCHOOL

Some counties send their boys to the
institution ragged, filthy. and in irons.
This is great wrong inflicted on the poor
boy, and on the treasury of the Reform
Farm School. Other counties send their
juvenile offenders neat and cleanly in
their apparel and person. When received
and his record entered, the new conner is
welcomed into the family designated as
his future home. An unhappy, discon-
tented boy is not in a condition favorable
to reformation and improvement. 10
change a bad boy into good one, the
proper agencies must be adopted and en-
ployed. In his new home he comes un-
der the rulings of the law of kindness
and love. Here the work of reformation
is fairly inaugurated, and in few days
the home feeling is produced and its
mower realized His character must be
studied, his wants known, and his per-
sonal peculiarities ascertained; then reach
to him the helping hand of sympathy and
encouragement, bring to bear upon his
thoughtless mind and stubborn will the
power ofmoral truth and the authority of
law, reach his heart through his under
standing, let him feel and realize that his
recovery from the power ofevil is posi-
Bile, and that, by the Divine blessing, he
NAV become his own deliverer. His dor
mant energies must be aronsed and di-
rected-his purpose must be fixed and
avowed; then trust him, and give him the
opportunity and encouragement to do
we'll This he can enjoy in our school
room and chapel, on the fields and in the
shops, in his family, and on the play
ground. Some of four boys are weak and
helpless at the beginning of their strug-
giles; but the intellect aroused, the hand
employed, and the heart cheered, be-
ginning is made, the point ofinditference
is passed, and, step by step, progress in
the right direction is made; the careless
become thoughtful, idleness is changed
to industry, rebellion for obedience, truth
for falsehood, and virtue for vice.
The State provides at its reformatory a
good home, and not cherries, gloomy
prison, for her vicious and and criminal
wards. The open lawns ornamented with
trees, shrubs and flowers; the beautiful
chapel, with its elevating influence and
associations,t the family buildings. commo-
dious and imposing, and especially the
absence of massive walls and barred win
dows, produce at the very beginning a
deep and favorable impression upon the
mind and heart of the new conner, and he
submits cheerfully and hopefully to the
authoritative guardianship ever over and
around him. Well fed, comfortably lodged
and clothed, taught habits of personal
cleanliness and neatness, the boy is ready
to take hold of every duty, and his state
of mind is favorable to receive moral and
religious instruction. Such are the prin-
ciples and the ideas which characterize
the methods of reform prevailing in the
Ohio Reform Farm School. Our modes
of punishment and the certainty of their
inhiction are well known and appreciated
by our inmates. The law ofpunishment
is terror to evil doers, and properly used,
is an accepted element of power in the
discipline of the institution. Slight Of
lenses receive light punishments; but in
case of grievious transgressions the often
ders know that there exists a slumbering
power in reserve, ready to be used when
occasion demands it-OhiO School Com
miSsiOner's Report.