Evening star., 1940-05-05

OuU1lSl
ing school. School rooms have been
set up in the Easements Of five dor
mitory units. Electric lights must
be used at all times in these class
rooms. The concrete floors are
damp in the winter time and over
head are the plumbing pipes.
What passes for an assembly hall
Is another basement room. The
makeshift stage where the children
put on plays has post in the CEN
ter of it.
sClassrooms Use Play Space. -.
To supervise the class work and
attend assembly hall, officials must
traverse the entire grounds of the
institutions. And, of course, the
schoolrooms use up all the avail
able indoor play space.
With more facilities for training
and some parole officers, DR.. Lewald
thinks more than 10 inmates could
be paroled a year.
The psychologist of the training
school also does part-time duty as
a parole ofhcer. There is no other
parole officer, no one else to follow
up the cases that leave the institu-
ton, no one else to help them ad-
just themselves to life in the out
side world.
Actually. the psychologist needs
all her time for her own work.
Through frequent testing, she can
find out If child on a 9-year age
level Is doing the work of a 7-year-
old. She can find out the difficulty
and help the child make the best
use of what intelligence it has.
Her testing as well as the train
ing has made 1t possible for young
people to take jobs in the outside
world. One girl who came to the
institution at IA and was paroled
at l8 has held the same job for
five years with substantial raise
In salary. A boy who was at the
institution 10 years has maintained
himself as carpenter on the East
ern Shore of Maryland ever since
he was paroled three years ago and
IN his busy seasons often hires other
men to help him.
Some Can Be ParoIed.
1t can be done-the children can
be paroled, but the stumbling blocks
are great. Not only is the lack of
a parole ofhcer q great obstacle,
but also because the overcrowded
institution has to make that choice
of the lowest-grade intelligences
not as many of the young people
have the mental ability to be
paroled.
The average intelligence of the
600 inmates is 42.6, well below the
moron level. Chronologically. the
inmates range from years to 81
years. Their mental age is from
/ month to II years; their intelli-
gence quotas range from l to 70.
Nevertheless, with the lack of suf-
ficient training facilities, with low
grade intelligences to cope with, the
boys and girls are learning. Going
from woodshop to weaving class, it
Is hard to imagine sometimes that
the children who are doing the
work are morons or less.
The boys, working under super
vision, assist the carpenter, the
painter, the baker. They do farm
work, ploughing and narrowing
They milk the cows and plant the
fields. They do concrete work,
grading. building In their wood
shop, they make benches and book
cases, foot stools and window boxes
They learn how to use a saw and
a plane. They learn to read writ
ten directions and some of them
can even follow blue print.
Smallest Go to School.
The girls work in the laundry
the sewing room, the mending room
They serve table, make beds, wash
windows and dust. In their classes
they learn fine needlework and
practical sewing, like making shirts
The smallest children start going
to school as soon as they learn to
walk. In their classroom, they are
taught how to feed themselves, how
to use a tooth brush, how to comb
their hair.
To a little canteen in the new
hospital building the children car
bring the pennies they earn work
ing for the employees. They can
sit at little tables there and sir
soft drinks.
Making use of every bit of space
taking advantage of every inch OF
material, the District Training
School has made itself into a COM
munity where children who must
live their lives there can be safe
The school has done much, but 1t
also needs much.