Los Angeles herald., 1891-12-31
THE REFORM SCHOOL
DR.. Lindley's Address Be-
fore the State Teachers.
He Tells All About the Insti-
tuition.
Some of the Features of the Meth
Ods Used.
The Antidote for Mischief Is Occu-
pation-The Different Grades.
Other Interesting
Facts.

DR.. Walter Lindley delivered the fol-
lowing address at the meeting of the
State Teachers association at Riverside
.ou Wednesday:
Every teacher has pupil during each
year who, through lack of proper home
government or lack of any place worthy
of the name OF home is menace to the
we'll being and good conduct of the other
pupils. Such a boy is most frequently,
not naturally any worse or any duller
than the average boy, but few hours
work done in the school room is not
supplemented by proper discipline out
side OF the school. In fact this is the
problem given: A boy with twenty five
hours per week good influences in school
and las hours week demoralizng in
fiuences outside OF school. What will
be the result? Answer: A bad boy.
Then the question arises: What is to
be done with this boy? fExpel him from
school. Yes but what next? The an
swer California has heretofore given has
been: The street, the brothel the gut
ter the penitentiary. Take the boy and
man with this record from twelve to fifty
years of age and look at the awful pic
ture
Every teacher has wished there was
some school for those boys who could
not be controlled for the right III the
public school. That is what California
has undertaken to do in the state school
at Whittier. There the boy is under
the control and discipline and in the So
ciety of and under the influence of the
teacher 16S hours in the week and fifty
two weeks in the year. No time is al
lowed for falling.
Suppose you could direct the boys
habits as to washing, bathing, clothing,
playing, sleeping, eating and studying.
You readily see it would give you an ad-
vantage with bad boy that you cannot
possibly have in day school. That is
what the state is doing at Whittier.
This state school opened the lst OF
last July. There have been sent to it
the most prominent cases of incorrigi-
bility from San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Stockton, Oakland, San Bernardino, San
Diego, Santa Ana, Redding, Marysville,
Oroyille, San Luis Obspo, Santa Bar
bara, Pasadena, Ventura and Fresno.
Many people who thought the plan of
this state school impracticable, said:
Just wait until you get those terrible
characters from the San Francisco In
dustrial school, and then you will find
that you will be obliged to arm your
officers and bar your windows and wall
in your grounds. l must acknowledge
my mind was uneasy about those boys,s
/ visited that school and looked into
those boys' faces and through their eyes
into their hearts, and l saw that after
all the hard things that had been
said about them were simply boys.
Boys with big hearts and bad training,
boys who had been educated in sin,
BOYS who only needed kind word
spoken and friendly hand laid gently
on their shoulder to cause thom to burst
into tears. Send those boys to Whittier
was the request made. The industrial
school was closed, the boys were, several
weeks ago, sent to Whittier, and they
have done better than had ever hoped
for. Almost without exception they are
smart, and what is needed is to imbue
them with selfrespect, give them fair
education, inculcate habits of industry
and get them to fall in love with cleanli-
ness.
One of these boys was in what is
called "the tank" for seven months be-
fore he was sent to Whittier He had
attempted to blow up the industrial
school, and is the most hopeless case in
the state school. For some weeks
thought it was useless to try to do any
thing for him. and | let him go along
without any special effort to reach his
heart, but lately l have noticed him
doing kind acts toward some of the
other boys, and when, ten days ago,
reprimanded him for some little occur
renee, and, trying to arouse the spark of
manhood within him, told him of let
ter bad received from bis mother, the
bow broke down in tears. For those few
moments at least the criminal disap-
peared and the boy reigned supreme. Is
it possible for ME to keep SO close to
that boy for the FIVE years he is to stay
in the school that the criminal element
within him will be forever subdued? |
have hope. 1t may be that within the
next year the demon of his being may
assert itself in some terrible act; but
do not expect it, and will report faith
fully the result.
The antidote for mischief at the state
school is occupation. Diversion, not
coercion, is our motto.
There are three grades of schools in
the boys department, and will give
you the daily programme of grade A, as
an example. They rise at 6 am, do
the work in the dormitores, wash and
20 into breakfast at 6 AS. Neat white
table cloths cover the tables, and fifteen
boys who are walters wear clean white
aprons. The boys are given an abun-
dance of mush and milk and bread,
potatoes, meat and gravy. One man
came to me and said: What, feeding
those boys meat twice day? Why,
how expensive it must be. II | were
running that school / wouldn't feed
than meat at all. How many are there
in this audience who do not eat meat?
Not one in this vast concourse who
never eats meat. You are all past
Is and through growing; all you need
food for is to exist while these working,
playing, drilling, studying toys not only
need food to maintain existence, but
they need food for growth. Yes, but
what is the cost per capita of taking
such good care OF and educating these
children ? asks some one. What is the
cost per capita of educating boy at the
state university? No person ever