Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-07-23
The War We Are Losing

The War We Are Losing
About a month ago Senator. Hendrick-
son, chairman of the Senate's Subcommit-
tee on Juvenile Delinquency, told group Of
juvenile workers meeting here: I'VE can
bring to this conference neither pride in
past accomplishments nor optimism for the
immediate future for we are leaders In the
war this Nation Is losing'-the war against
juvenile delinquency"
Certainly this war Is being lost in WASH
ington. And the latest annual report Of
the Montgomery County Juvenile Court,
showing 20 per cent increase in juvenile
delinquency from 1852 to 1858, indicates
that the war is being lost there, too.
It may be that this distressing situation
cannot be related to any common factor or
attributed to any one reason. Still, there
are certain similarities which may be sig
nificant. Senator Hendrickson is against
"get-tough" policy. So is Judge Moves OF
the Montgomery Court And so is Judge
Cockrill of the Districts court. Judge Moves,
although his court is open, says that pub
Lefty in juvenile cases should be given
only with the consent of the (juvenile)
court or of parents themselves" AS prac-
tical matter that would mean no publicity.
Judge Cockrill's court is tightly closed, and
she even objects to the police practice OF
keeping public record Of arrested juve-
miles, Most judges think parents and other
adults must shoulder large part OF the
blame. And so does Senator Hendrickson.
But if we are not to get tough, If pub
hcity is wrong even in serious cases, II par
ents will not meet their responsibility, what
Is to be done? # Senator Hendrickson and
the juvenile judges know the answer, except
In terms that are so generalized as to be
almost meaningless, they certainly have
failed to spell 1t out.
The report Of the Montgomery Court
contains this rather startling, but substan-
TALLY true, statement:
It is as dangerous to the child and the
community to turn him loose on the highway
with q streamlined vehicle capable Of speed
of 100 miles an hour as it is to allow him to
spray the neghborhood with .50-caliber
machine gun, unless the child has had ade-
quate and proper training and receives super
vision in the operation OF an automobile.
The report goes on, however, to state
this:
In many situations it is evident that par
ents allow their children to have virtually
free access without restriction to either the
family car or their own vehicle. In addition.
time and again children are being permitted
to remain away from home at night until one.
two and three o'clock in the morning, and
usually on such occasions the parents do not
know where the child Is going, who he Is with
or have fixed time when the child is to re-
turn home.
But the policy in Montgomery Is not to
publicize the names of parents or children
in such cases. The-policy is not to "get
tough" Why should any one be surprised
that juvenile delinquency is rising?
The Star is well aware that it Is easy to
oversimplify in these matters. In many
cases, perhaps in most, there Is much to be
said for the procedures that are being fol-
lowed. But there also Is something wrong
with the system. In recent years there has
been a great advance in development Of
things that are supposed to be good for chill
dren-playgrounds, swimming pools, guild
ance etc. But this advance has been ac-
companied by at least as great an increase
In delinquency. Why Is this so? There may
be several reasons. But certainly there Is
basis for the belief that one answer is too
much emphasis on the individual, too little
on the community welfare; too much con-
centration on sympathetic treatment, too
little recognition that there are times when
stern discipline Is required.