Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-01-11
TO Be Gentle as Pos
sible,' Motto Of Insti-
tuition, Which Does
Not Aim to Punish,
but Strives to Regen-
crate Youngsters.
BY TARLETON COLLIER.
SCOWLING boy about twelve years

stood glaring defantly at things in general
He had just committed an act Of lawlessness
He had defled the sacrosanct. He had broken
one OF the ordinances Of the city Of Atlanta,
and had been caught red-handed Now he was
about to be punished, for this was the deten-
ton home, and the room of the Childrens Court
The thought that he was an outlaw had gone
deep into the boys mind, It was very plain He
was trying hard to take on the Indifferent sang
froid of the really bad man. But all the time
you could see that he was nervous under his
pose, and wondering what they were going to
do with him, whether he would go to the Stock
ade or to the Tower.
The short, stocky man who sat at the table,
looked down at the paper in front of him, and
then up at the boy.
"Come here, Ralph" he said, using a tone
that was not in the least peremptory COM
handing. 1t was the calm rather kind, ex-
preston, of a request.
The boy, clutching his nervousness tightly in
a hard fist, shutled over to the table, defiance
still in his lowering eyebrows and sullen mouth.
His eyes were on the floor. The man at the
table looked at him for ten full seconds Then
he said
you don't SCI weather like this often in Jam
uary, do you, Fl llph?"
The boys eyas swung up from the floor to
the face Of the man. Defiance had given way
to surprise, AMI in a fash the hard crust Of
his determinat On to be villain was broken
His Regeneration now was mere matter of
moments.
of a typical trial in the ChildrenS Court Of
Fulton County, court whose policy, announced
in cold, indubitable black type, strikes you as
unusual. 1t says:
1.-THE policy of this court shall be to deal with
delinquents nearly possible wise par
ents should To be gentle pos
This Children's Court achieved a sort Of in
dependence September 1, after two years and
a half of operation as an essential part of the
pnriNr NnyIrt Now thnrn 10 ktnhi1 lyl'S
judge" one of the first in the South.
The legislature passed an amendment to the
general Children's Court act last summer, and
the Childrens Court of Fulton County little
later given quarters Of its own, and w.
w. Tindall, chief probation officer, was en-
powered to sit as judge, by the judges Of the
Superior Court who still remain as special
guardians.
And now, instead of the once-a-week sessions
that were held under the old order in the Su-
perior Court chambers, the Children's Court
has sessions whenever necessary at the home
at Trinity and Central, daily, twice day, per-
haps, or even at night if circumstances demand.
1t was becoming high time that this court of
parental discipline should be an institution by
itself, with its administration, and its own
remedies. From September l to January l, $50
cases were entered on its docket $50 children,
either exposed to evil influences or actual Of
tenders themselves, were asked to tell about
their lives their home influences, their pros
poets. Diagnosis was made in each case, and
a probable remedy prescribed.
The matter assumes economic importance.
This is no court Of technicalties and evasions
and multiple interpretations Of the law 1t is
court of concrete evidence and Of examination
of the causes of this and that.
1t is not the purpose of the Children's Court
so much to punish as to seek means of re-
generation. Sometimes, in the case of incorrigi-
bles, punishment must be severe, but the 1ncor-
rigibles are in the smaller proportion and the
usual course is an attempt to remedy the condi-
lions which started the child on the road to the
Children's Court and the detention home.
~ have come to feel that every trial is a trial
of the setting and the home conditions of the
child, rather than of the child himself said
Mr., Tindall yesterday. at is a social investi-
CATION, rather than criminal procedure"
And because Mr. Tindall has considered his
work in this light, he has been able to draw
some very poignant general truths from his
docket. For instance:
More than 90 per cent of the boys and girls
who come into the court are from homes that
are broken by death, separation, divorce, OF
imprisonment
More than 90 per cent are not in active at
tendance on any school.
Most of the children. although many are ff-
teen or sixteen years old, have not passed the
third grade at school.
Less than 20 per cent are beyond regenera-
ton The other so per cent or more are made
desirable persons permanently by once being
confronted with the power of the law.
you realize, then, the effectiveness or the
~!hildren's Court" Mr.. Tindall explained. 1T
e a question of how many of this so per cent
would be saved to useful citizenship otherwise.
The court benefits first Of all class who would
be wayward but for fear Of the institution and
its power This so per cent, and their parents,
too, receive shock in coming in contact with
the courts authority that they are checked In
their incipient criminality.
'Incpent criminality-that's 1t. To check
that is the Chldren's Courts essential func-
ton"
In the theory which the court was founded,
he explains, the offenses Of child are not
classed as crimes; that is ofenses of children
of sixteen years and under, who come within
the jurisdiction of the court
According to Children's Court verb1age
child is hayward if he is exposed to such In
fuences that tend to make him lead an I'M
moral vicious or loose life. He is delinquent
If he violates any city ordinance or State stat
,,tes He is incorrigble IL he can not be re-
deemed. In no case is he regarded as
criminal unless, of course, he commits an or
Tense punishable by death or life Imprisonment
in which case he is turned over to the Superior
Court for punishment. ..., J.,
The Children's Court acts swiftly. There is
mono of the mooted claws delay" here. A
child is brought to the detention home one
morning. for instance, by a policeman, or by
an officer who takes him into custody upon