The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1911-01-13
JUDGES ARE BAEFLEO
BY W GIRLS
Before Problem ut Delinquent
DuughtersJuvrni!. Courts
stand Aghast.

Rheta Childa Dorr, whose articles on
sociological subjects have attracted
much attention, writes in the January
Hampton's Magazine on the subject Of
The wayward girl.
Before th- problem OF the wayward
girl" she says, 1.-The juvenile court
stands aghasr. 70 show what a prob
lem this is, she quotes from the figures
obtained by DR.. James a. Britton,
physician Of the detention home in
Chicago. DR.. Britton during 1909 ex-
amined 3,SOs children for diseases born
vice. OF these 269 were girls, a5a
one in three OF the girls was fouaa 10
be suffering from dangerous contagious
maladies resulting from immoreiisy.
''This statc OF affairs is not unique,
says Mrs. Dorr. Chicago is'the only
city which. has rendered y frank report
of health conditions. In every city l
have visited the sa1le report, although
informal, was given. 4 new and sinis-
ter interest begins TO attach to the
girl who goes wrong while she is still a
child. Remember that those girls in
the report of the Chicago detention
home were under sixteen. Some OF
them were as young as ten.
Before thu problem of the del!n-
quent boy, the juvenile court is conf
dent, unafraid. Before the problem Of
the delinquent girl it simply stands
aghast. All that the judres and pro-
baton officers have learned about the
delinquent girl in ten years of expert
ence is that she is a greater menace to
society than they ever imagined, and
that the o~ld-fashicnei theories Of re-
forming her are wrong.
when we speak of a delinquent
boy and a delinquent girl you must
not lose sight of the fact that we mean
two very different kinds Of delin:
quency. Very few girls are guilty OF
theft, arson, malicious mischief, disor-
derby consuct or any of the other Of
lenses when seem to tempt boys.
Girls are instructive respecters of law
and order. The vast majority of girls
brought into the juvenile court are ar
rested for a fault which in a boys case
is not punished.
''Viewed from 2 standpoint of simple
Justice, this, of course, is grotesquely
unfair. From the standpoint OF cold
science, it is ridiculously inadequate to
remedy the evil at which it strikes.
But society has not reached an ethica
plane where simple justice is entirely
comprehensive. 1t has not been edu
Gated to a point where science is mor'
persuasive thar prejudice ard ccnven
tionai sex distinction.
Inevitably there will come a tim
when it will be known that persona
immortality of the masculine half of tn
world is exactly as much OF
danger as the personal i'm
the feminine half. 1t will J.
that the results are the san ,
consequences, measured IN as o
disease, crime, pauperism, illegitimac
and insanity are precisely the same
The time has not yet come. Until
does come the juvenile court will strul
gle in vain with It's girl problem.
Zone phase of the problem we ma
solve if we will. The girl problem hi
its roots, not in fact, but i'll a psyche
logical phenomenon, a state Of publ
mind. This state of mind not only q
cents the double standard of morals
final, but it assumes that a single m
step or a single period of immoral!
on the part of a girl thrusts her ou
side the pale of decent society. It a
-sumes that the girl is SO changed
experience that she ostracises herse
She ceases to be like other girls. 5
is marred for life. Unless she a
isolated in some way, she is bound
Offend again.
''To dispose of a girl by ostracisi
her is exactly as dangerous as to d
pose of typhoid fever germs by thro
ing them into a public reservoir. l
revenge the outcast girl reaps upon
,ciety is far more terrible than an e
.demic of typhoid. Rather than all
the physical as well as the moral hea
.of the community to be endangered.
must find means OF changing the pull
smind as to the real status of the s
who goes wrong. We must show 81
sety that her condition is by no me-
shopeless, her immortality is not nee
ssarily permanent