The Topeka state journal., 1921-10-29


Nature and have a live acquaintance
with birds and bugs and thru such ac-
quaintance lead the boy to a finer and
greater appreciation of God. He
should abhor cheap and vulgar things,
should be a good listener and be al
| ways able to give generously an ap-
probation of real merit, whether it be
in batting up flies, good examination
grades, winning a debate or an exhi-
| bition of real character.
He should teach that few tools
and place to work at home are more
desira BILE than a trip to the movies. That
directed fun is the most effective anti
/ dote for evil thoughts and temptation
| and thus help the boy to be ever busy
and happy at something. He should
realize his duty to the boy as well as
! his responsibility to society and as
good citizen try earn eStly to discharge
| both of these obligations. He should
know that his son comes honestly by
certain traits of character which he
| occasionally exhibits and try to crowd
! these traits out by strong cultivation
of the more desirable ones, rather than
| the usual process of repression. He
! should not blaine the boy for falling
| in love with a girl, for he has passed
| thru this stage himself and should be
| convinced that comradeship with the
right sort of girls, under reasonable
supervision, is the greatest tonic in the
world to right living. He should not
| try to compel his boys to respect him,
| but rather should strive to be emf
nently worthy of respect. He should
know that boys must actually both
earn and spend money in order to
learn thrift and so take pains to pro-
vide them with ample opportunity for
| both, not forgetting to have them give,
| too in keeping with their means.
Supply of Stories.
| ''He should have supply of stories
Pof the right sort. He should know
! that a broken will is a greater misfor-
tune to a boy than crippled body'
| it should be corrected and guided, not
driven, making real success possible.
The practice of brutal thrashings be-
| longs to the past; the teaching of self
| control to the present. 1t is greater to
make a life than living and ne
| should prefer to be regarded as a
successful father than successful
| business man. The boy knows whether
| his is a real father, true to hlmself,
! true to his family, true to his country
and his God.
men and they never have time to
spend with their sons. The result is
| frequently that the business prospers
| and the son is lost. They will trust
| their sons with others when they
would shudder to take such a chance
with their business.
get along ell right. He has not time
to talk to him morning or night
business makes him rich while others
fail TO fill the fathers place and the
son comes to ruin and disgrace. This
brings him into the care of the juven-
lie court officers. The only rational
approach to correct dealing with a
| given offender is thru an intimate,
accurate and scientific knowledge of
his personality, home conditions and
associations. Until we can improve
the homes from which our delinquents
which he springs, the problem of the
delinouent will remain. We cannot
cure by means of prohibition, or
simply saying: Thou shalt not We
must provide good, clean, construc-
tive recreation as one of the best
crime substitutes. We must not for
get in trying to combat delinquency
that to the multitude of beginners de-
linquency is attractive.
There is only one principle in
penalogy that is worth any consid-
Grafton and that is to find out why
the boy did wrong and make it not
worth his while. Too many parents
pass the buck in raising the boy and
depend upon someone else SO that
they will not be bothered. When the
parents have failed, then it becomes
the duty of the juvenile court Off
GERS to try to save the boy. The pro-
baton officer then becomes the big
brother to the unfortunate lad. He
seeks by kindly guidance and practical
service to bring back to self respect
and usefulness those who have, by
ignorance, WillfulnesS or misfortune
fallen into the hands of the law. The
aim of the court is to correct-not to
punish. 1t is the outgrowth of bet
| ter understanding of what society
owes to those who go wrong. 1t is a
] - -1-H,L III
on one side; an appreciation that it is
better to reclaim a boy than to make
| a wreck of him.
Must Earn Merits.
probation is the method by which
the community, thru it's courts. seeks
to supervise, discipline and reform Of
tenders without imprisoning them.
After the boys hearing is held in court
the juvenile judge decides to place the
boy on probation in care of the proba-
tion officers; he is given a. certain
number of merits to earn. This he
does by reporting each Saturday,
bringing a report from his home and
school, and a IstNof good turns he has
| done during the week. Each Satur-
day he receives instructions concern
ing the proper way of spending his
time SO that at the end of the week
he knows he has done his best. After
| several weeks, when the boy has
! eaNieu tne required HampeT oA merits
| he is released from reporting to the
probation officer. He is then placed
| in charge of a chief Big Brother, who
has charge of the district in which this
boy happens to live
THE idea of the juvenile court Big
Brother movement is to take care of
| the boy and counsel and guide him at
any time he may need help or infor-
nation. A chief Big Brother of each
district gives the name of each. boy
| brought to his attention by the proba-
/ tton officer to some one who acts
solely as a big brother to this boy.
There are twenty of these districts.
Each chief Big Brother has as many
| assistant big brothers as there are boys
in his district. The Big Brother keeps
in touch with his charge at all times,
and makes it his duty to hold a weekly
consultation with the boy so that they
can discuss anything that should be