Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-12-19
THE JUVENILE COURT

4 rscoGNIZING the Importance
OF the public press as
4 an educator of the people
i y ,nf having beenSa teacher for
any Years / cannot resist the temp
,atien 10 tfy to teach something IN ,a =
s ~ which mas been placed ! my as
pesal, {. !, ]. ]. /, : ,,,r.,, mart
.sn,. system, OF Jurisprudence and as
! powerful factor II juvenile better
.aant has passed the experir'enta'
.taoc Wherever 1t has been intelii-
mi. tried. lit has demonstrated us
n exist. The. workers in the
.''rnnile court OF this city, II may
EEL. a1,ot$edf "a here speak for them. have
no,e. assiduously to bring their . ,...,.
et3lna;,Adsthat would meet intelsiT
y :. 5n,fblit recognition and apprecia-
4 nh we nave sought to avoid the
l.t.,,,iir,t (Which would shumiliate the
4 i've Or crafty the seeker after
Z s,Iltn,,ttsty Aid yet we have rot hesi-s
!nf5a ia sound Il warning through the
willie press when conditions II our
iindrnent demanded sach course.
While OF necessity We have mas To
LILY
- !, c,,rsitive, Way for juvenile delin-s
i - we have recognized that If we
W. "a d,, anything IN IL large way
LANE. The line of prevention, which IS
- much superior to cure, that we
,,nst do our best to search out causes
+ ,rn r:snses OF delinquency, No matter
low urgent has been the need FOR rem
4 cflics that hasanot prevented ns IRON
dnira this other more fundamental
SMOrk,
CAUSES OF DELGNQ Ul.NG'Y.
First among causes should be men
tinned unsatisfactory homes. These
nre homes broken UP by the entrance
II one or more Of three Ds-Death,
sl3tyorc, and observation-disclosures IN which
tnrr, Is no proper home influences
iionlcs not presided over by strong
@maNlv NAN, and II loving WH1manly
5W,snti.!, children deprived of these
Influences are indeed not getting Il FAIR
4dp,I in THE world There are other
nopjG9 not so broken M, that are ner-
clelltIrSs very Unsatisfactory on ac-
o,i.iit III To" vicious hnbits Of the tis-
athet' or mother or both. Sometimes
Tins viciousness takes the form nf an
5,Inrn3trolltlble temper Which i.leaSes no
room for natural parental affection,
sunrtimcssa @desire on the part Of the
falher to actually teach his boy bad
thirgs, sometimes alcoholism with all
OF its tlalnnng seauellae. and at other
times rlle %sNiciousncss Of indifference
switch is almost as bad as the other
f0!us.
Again, there nro unsatisfactory
homes because the parents in them |
have no appreciation Of the duties and |
responsibilities of parenthood and have
no preparation for such duties. They !
may be good lin q passive sort OF way |
inoifcnsive,a easy-going, DESTROYS that |
their children shall do the right thing |
aud yet because of their utter lack |
Of preparation for parenthood they have !
succeeded III establishing most unsatis-
factory homes. They have no know
ledge OF child development no APP
probation az the influence of perfect |
no knowledge Of the laws Of
health, or their application especially
to Children and no appreciation of the
uotter Of the home as the great unit OF |
civilizations Other causes are the eN-
trenies OF poverty and wcalth--pover- |
iy Sith its hardships, privntions. and |
chii-labor;sand wealth with its AFRO
game and fnlGnSt;s;l the use of tobac
90 and intuSicantS, the theaters, read |
ing vicious literature, loafing, inherent |
disposition to idicness, lawessness,
gang formation, and evil associations. |
Now while have enumerated Il large
number OF causes. they are all insig
niicant as compared with the one first
mentioned. s1; namely unsatisfactorS-
homes "a great many Of theSe other
causes could we'll be ignored If every
homo i'll the land were a satisfactory
one. For example, there arc very
faW cases of truancy or malicious mis-
chief on the part Of children from
satisfactory homes. There are no
children OH the streets at night from
SllclI homes. The parents in such
homes cooperate heartily with the
court and probation officers in the adj
iustmcat of little difficulties, which |
their children get into.
Tako for example the influence OF the !