The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-10-03
Make Children Learn Responsibility At Home, To Defeat Juvenile Delinquency, Says Expert
By MARIANNE PACIaNER NEA Stan CerrNanondent


 Narysville, O. = "Teen age oan- teens Tommyrotr' says Marguerite ReIlley, superintendent of ohios pro- gressive Refornatory for Women here in AEarysville. 'Kids are begin- ming to feel they must be entertain- edl That it's the responsibility of their elders to keep them amused, Why, when I was a youngster, we made up our games, We used our imaginations. And we played in our own back yards or in the paFlor. We were at home or we were near it. Where we belonged ."
 The large, motherly woman whose initiative, intelligence and humanity have transformed the one-time dreaded penal institution into e fe- minine version of Father Flana- gan's Boystown, emphasized c fav- orite word of hers, The word "home,"
 "Youngsters today are overstimu- lated and over-entertained," she went on. '"They have no sense of responsibility. All of their inclina- tions are away from the home in- stead of towards 1t. And that's when trouble startsl"
 Marguerite Reilley doesn't speak only as Q woman whose business 1t has been to deal with people. She speaks also as the mother of two grown children.
 After all," this wise-eyed woman continued, children are Q product of environment, If they're part of Q home that has roofs and a feeling of permaneney about 1t, if they have certain duties toward that home, they are automatically anchored to responsible living and are not likely to go of ct Q tangent.
 Why shouldn't l5-year-old John nie put the manual training he re- ceiVes at school into practice around the house of evenings, instead of asking father for half dollar, that he has done nothing to earn, to spend ct Q movie horSe-opera down the blockP The chances of his be- coming cowboy are extremely re- mote, yet oil of his imaginative en- ergy is being slanted in that direc- ton. He is much more likely to be- come 0 railroad brakeman with Q home of his own which will one day be the source of his greatest pleas ure and greatest responsibility. Why not slant his energies toward that2
 Why should motherless l7- year. old Mary curl up with Q love comics sion magazine after school until such time aS her dad gets home from the defense-plant where he's working and can prepare suppers
 I'm not making that up-it's c true story. Mary's father came to me just the other day and asked what he should do about 1t. After supper Mary sits around and waits for Q phone-eall that will take her out 'juking," And dad Is left to wash the dishes, Mary feels no obligation at all toward her home, or toward the father who supports her"
 The teen-ase problem today can be traced almost back to the cradle, thinks Mrs, Reilley. To concentrate attention on Baby Sally by making her recite for company, to forego discipline when little Teddy bangs away at the neighbours plano, is to develop an ego that must be con- tinually nourished. And this attitude comes smack up against the basiC rule of democracy: Do what you want as long as you do not trespass on the r;Shts of OtheEs,'
 Juvenile delinquency Is trespass- ing on the rights of others. An un. manageable juvenile is not necessar- fly Q criminal but there are some vicious kinks in the law whereby he may be treated aS such. And there In lies e threat to the future. Juvenile delinquents aren't erim.