The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1912-06-07
:, : PROBLEM IN FLORIDA

child problem in Florida is a |
nroblem, largely because OF the
Of proper institutional care for
-,asses of children. The only class |
eh,ldren that are properly provid- !
,or are the blind and deaf, for |
,be state has erected very |
school. with facilities and equip
that will compare very favora-
with the best in the country.
he delinquent children (delin-
NJ only since the last legislature, |
On passed the juvenile court law,
before this all were criminals, old |
.oungl who are unfortunate to be |
Knitted to the state reform school |
uarianna. have merely shelter
lace TO be "kept"-for there is no
Ipment for industrial training and
s hing conducive to reform. The
S. cks are less fortunate than the |
5. :tes. for the white children do get |
saw hours of schooling and have |
.ner dormitories. Girls and boys |
{. housed in the same buildings, and |
~ improvements in this school, in
ding efficient officers, equipment
Il educational facilities, as we'll as
fhange in name, must be brought
<put before Florida can lay claim to
ling done her duty to the delin-
INT child.
The dependent children that come |
der the care of the Children's |
&me Society of Florida, are placed
Il in carefully selected family |
mes. under the most improved |
has and methods of child pla ing.
<ere is no reason why all normal de-
.bdent and homeless children in
zorida should not be placed out in
La homes, for there are plenty OF |
IA homes, anxious to take children;
Il there are five or six denomina-
nal orphanages in the state that |
In keep" their children till they
i fifteen or sixteen years of age,
u all but one of these have no edu-
1tional facilities to fit the children
il their future in life. That the |
bple of the state prefer the home
B the Institutions, and the Child
8cing" system to the "child-keep |
i" system is clearly shown in the
Pat growth of the work of the Chill
EMS Home Society, which provided |
Il twice as many children in 1911 as
& the orphanages combined, and
lose list of contributors has in
BASED tenfold in year and half.
The children for whom the least
B been done by the state of Flor
h, and the citizens as well, are the
1fectives, and afflicted little ones.
here is no school or institution for
l. feeble-minded children Cor adults,
herr, in the state, and the few that
BE simply been forced upon the
ste have been placed in the state /
Elum for the insane at Chattahoo-
'ee The little children suffering
pm tuberculosis in Florida, must
htinue to suffer and die and spread
+ dread disease, till the state puts
sanitorium, some place where
ese little ones can be properly pro
jed for.
Last year the legislature appropri-
I'd few thousand dollars for hos
tal for durable, crippled children,
lich is much needed, but does not
'lp the little unfortunates who are
Il considered durable cases, and |
ERE are many in the state of Flor
!.
Proper institutional care is not all |
at Is needed to solve the child
pblem in Florida, for even had the
pie provided suitable institutional
Pc for all its children (and it Wild |
|ere would be other problems 10
I've.
For instance, Florida has no child |
por law. though many little children
'der the age are employed in can
ng factories, cigar factories, stores
u Offices and factories of all sorts. !
Neither has Florida a compulsory |
'oeation law, for up to the present |
PIE 1t has seemed wise to cheat the !
nites out of their rights, because 1t |
puld not seem wise to ''compulse'
y blacks.
|rhe weakness of the desertion law |
this state brings many dependent |
|ldren to be cared for, while the |
Pm "skidoos" to another state to do |
again.
The marriage law in Florida needs !
adjustment in many ways, and once |
sely adjusted, there will be fewer |
eole-minded, epileptic and other |
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