The Washington times., 1923-02-02
RAINING
SCHOOL
URGED
Place for Young DeIinquents
Needed Here, Declares
Snspector Grant.
By GEORGE FRANKLIN.

10y uA101N~G xAe<AANAAA44Ns
Need of an intermediary train
ing school between the Juvenile
Court and the reformatory for
the instruction Of youthful delin-
quent, as recommended by the
special committee of the Fedora
tion of Churches, has received the
endorsement of the District Po-
lice Department.
AS suggested by the committee,
headed by DR.. G.. M. Diffenderfer,
chairman, in the report submitted
to the federation, it is planned
to take over the property of the
Junior Republic, near Annapolis
Junction, Nd, consisting Of sew
eral buildings and Ia acres of
farm and timber land, and convert
it into a training school where
juvenile incorrigibles can be sent
for moral, physical and industrial
instruction without mourning the
handicap of having been an in
mate of penal institutS.~-.
Urged by Inspector Grant.
Character building. it is declared,
will be the dominating considera-
ton. The need of such an insti-
tuition in the District was set forth
today by INSPECTOR Clifford L.
Grant, head of the Washington
Detective Bureau.
"No one sees the need for a
school for delinquents better than I
do" said Inspector Grant. ''There
should be an intermediate place of
confinement between the Juvenile
Court and the reformatory where
the younger class of offenders can
be sent, either by the courts or
their parents, for corrective treat
ment,
"At present the only place to
send the younger offenders. whom
the court cannot discharge, or
parole, is the reformatory. In
the latter institution they come in
contact with older boys, more
versed in delinquent practices and
incipient crime. Boys are boys, you
know, and a boy has an magma
ton. In the reformatories the
youthful imagination is always be-
ing played upon by the recounted
exploits Of associates, and the re-
suit is frequently the very oppo-
site from what was intended or
expected.
Influenced by Older Boys.
There is a whole lot in the
autosuggestion we hear SO much
about just now. The youngster.
whose most serious crime is little
less than an aggravating infringe
ment Of the law, who comes under
the suggestions of older boys, al
ready marked by definite criminal
tendency, is fertile ground for auto
suggestions of the wrong kind TO
get in their work.
IT am not criticiZing reforma-
tories. They serve a purpose and
probably better than they could be
served by any other institution.
But they are not. primarily, so or
ganized as to be the best possible
place for the youngest set Of Of
tenders, who often are nothing
more than youngsters evincing
disposition to carry their deviltry
a little too far. The young boys
need advice and example of a diff
ferent character from that provided
under reformatory regime. What
they need most is a 'feelable' kindly
interest, the kind every boy and
every girl recognizes. and in their
hearts respects.
Discipline Essential.
Discipline there should be for the
reason that the delinquent is sadly
in need Of it. It's absence Is what
places him in the delinquent class.
You know there are some parents
who know what their boy or girl
should do but do not know how
to make them do it. They are
more inclined to be indulgent than
firm, when firmness is required and
should be shown. Now I am not
preaching sermon on How to
Bring UP a Child yet right here,
in this office, at this desk, am
continually reminded that some
where in the past some parents
lost sight Of the admonition to
bring up a child in the way it
should go and it will not depart
thercfrom. OF course, there are
many other influences affecting
the delinquent child besides paren-
tai indulgence or Indifference. But
I think much Of 1t gets it's start
in one of the other of those causes.
lone thing I have observed is,
that, the large percentage. and it
is a big one, Of the boys sent to
industrial training schools. make
good afterward. There was a time
when the Juvenile Courts sent
young delinquents. or had their