The San Francisco call., 1905-03-06
PPRENTAG HOME NEEDED
FOR W(AYu(ARD GaDS.
FUNDS TO BE RAISED
CALIFORNIA CLUB is URGING
THE MEASURE.
BY LAURA BRIDE POWERS.

citizens is the first duty Of the state:
and in proportion to its neglect of that
duty is a. state deficient in vitality
Time was in the days of Grecian as
cendency when the child was primarily
the property Of the state. Gradually
parental authority grew, and with it
parental responsibility, until the child
came TO be regarded as the personal
property of the parents. to be dealt
with solely by them or their sponsors.
But there has been during the last
quarter century a gradual readjustment
Of both attitudes.
The parent who fulfllls his duty
toward his child TO the best of his
ability in matters Of comfort. happl-
ness and education is at the same time
fulfilling his obligation TO the state. He
is using his best endeavors TO produce
q useful citizen, and should therefore
not be interfered with by the state
the child being his property, naturally,
politically and ethically.
But what Of the parent that neglects
his duty in the essentials that go to up
build the characters of children-those
whose homes are the scenes of nightly
orgies. of drunken Quarrels, of empty
cupbOsrds, Of filth and utter wretched-
ness thar abounds in the den of the
drunkard?
These are the parents who have for
feited their right TO the stewardship of
their children through personal de-
hciencies. And the state, for it's own
protection, must step in and carry out
the contract of rearing these children
10 be useful citizens.
So thoroughly is this matter under
stood in older communities that dis
cussiOn Of il bears the appearance Of
advocating the obvious.
In these older centers of population
various methods have been tried for
the forming Of these dependent chill
oren's characters-rather than re
forming" them later in so-called re
form schools. And in all of them has
the parental school, supplemented by
the parental boarding school, been
found 10 be the most effective agency
these, Of course, considered conjunct-
lively with the juvenile court and the
compulsory education law.
Now, San Francisco has a juvenile
court, painstaking Judge presiding
over it, vigilant probation officers and
alert truant officers. Likewise has ii
a parental school, but il needs-and
needs it badly-a parental boarding
school. where wayward youths may be
placed for specialized training amid
clean, happy, wholesome nome inf1u-
ences. And to this end has the Cali
fOrnia Club, through its civic section,
been laboring earnestly for many
months. aided and abetted by the
Board Of Education and William H.
Langdon. Superintendent of Schools.
That the Board of Supervisors may
be amply informed as to the urgency
Of an appropriation for the establish
nent Of a parental boarding school
Superintendent Langdon has filed with
the Board of Education the following
report which tells concisely the whole
f.Fs ,c-c-fxra
method Of making good citizens out of
Indifferent or bad material:
The Parental School has now been in sue
cesslui operation for seven months It has
by the Euperintendent's report, submitted De-
oenber % 1904, on the Parental School The
benefit 10 those actually attending this school
has been but small part OF the returns 70
the city: the fact that such a school exists,
and that children may at any time be sent
70 IT, has a restraining and subduing influence
peroeptibly felt in almost every school Of our
The success Of this school warrants the
recommendation that a Parental Boarding
School be established in accordance with the
statutes enacted by the California legislature
March "a 1908. and entitled. An act to en-
force the educational rights Of children and
providing penalties for the violation of the
Parental schools are successfully main
tsined IN the following cities: Boston. Gosh
" Orcestsr IN Massachusetts,. Buffalo, Brook
Iyn Rochester and Syracuse in New York
STATE: Chicago. Ills. and other places.
in q former report July. 1gO4) it was
pointed out that children whose home in
nuences are vicious cannot receive adequate
treatment in a day school. They are in school,
at most, six hours a day. eighteen hours a
day they are subject 70 the influences Of the
home and the street Their vicious habits
natural or acquired prompt them 10 seek
the worst Influences Of the city. These they
carry Ike moral plague. communicating all
wholesome children with whom they come
The hours out Of school educate these in
vice far more than school can educate IN Vlr-
tue The only hope Tor such ana Tor those
whom they might contaminate is the COM
pete separation from their homes and from
The law conpeis the education OF our chill
dren and citizens pay large taxes for the
purpose. Each parent therefore has right
a demand that the school 70 which he must
send his child be kept free from contagious
disease whether Of the body, the mind or the
soul The cost OF such school is apparently
large. $3.50 90 $500 per pupil, but how much
less is This than would be the cost Of criminal
courts and prisons A few years later. Even
this cost is very srlaH when i IS consid-
cred how many children Of evil tendencies
are restrained by every commitment to the
Parental School; from how large circle the
eysl Influences thus reTnoved; and how
much more efficient the teachers work be-
comes with disturbing elements eliminated
Pew O. the children sent 10 Parental School
evil by nature. They are unfortunate in
ff,.lr eurroundings Removed from bad ex-
ample ~ parents fr0ra the influence OF the
cigarette the saloon ana the gambling den.
sur,plied r-itn wholesome food wen c.ofhed and
ho1sed, properly trained by school. Earnes and
manu- aiming supplied with good reading
fie child of unfortunate circumstances changes
rs early trend and becomes the good and use
~. citizel Taken early in life 81 is a cues-
fi0n ~ forming such children; too long neg
lected II bscornes question of reform. prob
lon which our penal institutions are not sue
ccscfully solving
Four trtauf officers will secure attendance Of
those who ought 70 be IN our regular schools
The Day Parental School with its manual
training and military drill viii amply provide
for the majority Of those who must temporarily
be removed from the regular schools; smaller
number and this the most dangerous 70 the
welfare ~ society. must still be provided for
rr the Parental Boarding School
Tor this purpcse we should secure tract Of
f-rH well removed from the city: erect two
eoftaees with corritories kitchen, dining
room work shop. play room and school room
s,,ffcient for about twenty boys each.