CHAPTER XXXVI.In the Boyville Association it has always been the rule that, no matter how great a wrong committed by a boy, and the fine or sentence be what it may, if the boy looks forward to doing better, to putting his whole soul into trying to do right, if he hates and despises the act committed, that boy has a right to be honorably reinstated, and is heartily welcomed back to his friends.“Often” says a thoughtful writer, “men and women mourn over past wrong-doings with which their present identity has no connection.”A good preacher once asked a despondent soul, whose life was shadowed by a wrong committed in early years: “Would you do the same thing again?”“Do it again?” answered the man, “No, a thousand times, no.”“Then,” said the preacher, “You have outgrown the conditions that caused the wrong-doing, and you are no longer responsible for it.”The best way to correct wrong-doing is to prevent it, to warn a boy against the evil vices that tend to his ruin in later years. And one way to prevent crime is to reward virtue.“HE WAS FISHING IN THE LAKE.”See Page205Hon. Ben. B. Lindsey, of Denver, Colorado, Judge of the County and Juvenile Court of Denver, after many years of hard work, intermingled with the kind of experience that brings good results, declares that in the work of the Juvenile Court he has found a way to make our boys of today, who are inclined to be bad, follow paths of virtue and honesty that will lead them to good and honorable citizenship, and his success has been along the same self-governing plan of the Boyville Association.We do not think there has been a more interesting official report nor one of so great a value to the thinking people as the publication of “The Problem of the Children and How the State of Colorado Cares for them,” by Hon. Ben. B. Lindsey.“Power under any law,” writes Judge Lindsey, “may be abused. Mistakes under any law may be made. No system is perfect. If any conceives the idea that the Juvenile Court was created for the purpose of correcting or reforming every disorderly child, they are, of course, mistaken. Jails and criminal courts never did that.On the contrary, criminality among the youth of this country has been amazingly on the increase. Over half of the inmates of jails, reformatories and prisons combined are under twenty-four years of age. They are there largely because of uncorrected delinquency in childhood. While the Juvenile Court and probation system will not, and cannot, entirely overcome delinquency and waywardness, it will do a great deal better than the jail and criminal court ever did. The Juvenile Court generally deals with cases in which there has been a failure in the home, the school, and often the church. These three institutions are the places through their various influences to form the character of the child. The Juvenile Court is rather an aid to the home and the school in the moral training of the child. If these two latter fail, the court, through its officers, can supply the deficiency. In the Denver Juvenile Court none are convicted of crime or subjected to the contamination of the jail.“The Juvenile Court does not tolerate the idea of the child being a criminal. It does not consider the question of punishment the important thing. If the child cannot be corrected at home, for its own good and for the good of society atlarge, it is simply sent to a State public school, where discipline is superior to that of the home, and where it is intended to correct waywardness and to serve as an example to prevent waywardness in others. The purpose is, in delinquent cases, to inspire and receive obedience, to improve and strengthen character. We never release a boy upon probation until he is impressed with the idea that he must obey. It is explained what the consequences will be if he does not obey and keep his word. It is kindly, but firmly impressed why all this is so, and why, after all, he is the one we are most interested in and that it is for him we are working and not against him. We want him to work with us and not against us. He must, to do this, obey in the home, in the school, and of course, he must obey the laws of the land and respect the rights of others. We must know that he obeys. We know this by reports from the school, signed by the teacher, every two weeks; by reports from the neighborhood, when necessary to investigate, and frequently, by reports from the home, and, in exceptional cases, visits to the home. And more important than all this is the trust and confidence we impose upon the boy himself through the administrative work of theCourt. We arouse his sense of responsibility. We understand him as best we can, and we make him understand us as best we can.”Nothing could be said or written of the history of Boyville and the intention of its workers that could explain the great object in view better than the above report.
CHAPTER XXXVI.In the Boyville Association it has always been the rule that, no matter how great a wrong committed by a boy, and the fine or sentence be what it may, if the boy looks forward to doing better, to putting his whole soul into trying to do right, if he hates and despises the act committed, that boy has a right to be honorably reinstated, and is heartily welcomed back to his friends.“Often” says a thoughtful writer, “men and women mourn over past wrong-doings with which their present identity has no connection.”A good preacher once asked a despondent soul, whose life was shadowed by a wrong committed in early years: “Would you do the same thing again?”“Do it again?” answered the man, “No, a thousand times, no.”“Then,” said the preacher, “You have outgrown the conditions that caused the wrong-doing, and you are no longer responsible for it.”The best way to correct wrong-doing is to prevent it, to warn a boy against the evil vices that tend to his ruin in later years. And one way to prevent crime is to reward virtue.“HE WAS FISHING IN THE LAKE.”See Page205Hon. Ben. B. Lindsey, of Denver, Colorado, Judge of the County and Juvenile Court of Denver, after many years of hard work, intermingled with the kind of experience that brings good results, declares that in the work of the Juvenile Court he has found a way to make our boys of today, who are inclined to be bad, follow paths of virtue and honesty that will lead them to good and honorable citizenship, and his success has been along the same self-governing plan of the Boyville Association.We do not think there has been a more interesting official report nor one of so great a value to the thinking people as the publication of “The Problem of the Children and How the State of Colorado Cares for them,” by Hon. Ben. B. Lindsey.“Power under any law,” writes Judge Lindsey, “may be abused. Mistakes under any law may be made. No system is perfect. If any conceives the idea that the Juvenile Court was created for the purpose of correcting or reforming every disorderly child, they are, of course, mistaken. Jails and criminal courts never did that.On the contrary, criminality among the youth of this country has been amazingly on the increase. Over half of the inmates of jails, reformatories and prisons combined are under twenty-four years of age. They are there largely because of uncorrected delinquency in childhood. While the Juvenile Court and probation system will not, and cannot, entirely overcome delinquency and waywardness, it will do a great deal better than the jail and criminal court ever did. The Juvenile Court generally deals with cases in which there has been a failure in the home, the school, and often the church. These three institutions are the places through their various influences to form the character of the child. The Juvenile Court is rather an aid to the home and the school in the moral training of the child. If these two latter fail, the court, through its officers, can supply the deficiency. In the Denver Juvenile Court none are convicted of crime or subjected to the contamination of the jail.“The Juvenile Court does not tolerate the idea of the child being a criminal. It does not consider the question of punishment the important thing. If the child cannot be corrected at home, for its own good and for the good of society atlarge, it is simply sent to a State public school, where discipline is superior to that of the home, and where it is intended to correct waywardness and to serve as an example to prevent waywardness in others. The purpose is, in delinquent cases, to inspire and receive obedience, to improve and strengthen character. We never release a boy upon probation until he is impressed with the idea that he must obey. It is explained what the consequences will be if he does not obey and keep his word. It is kindly, but firmly impressed why all this is so, and why, after all, he is the one we are most interested in and that it is for him we are working and not against him. We want him to work with us and not against us. He must, to do this, obey in the home, in the school, and of course, he must obey the laws of the land and respect the rights of others. We must know that he obeys. We know this by reports from the school, signed by the teacher, every two weeks; by reports from the neighborhood, when necessary to investigate, and frequently, by reports from the home, and, in exceptional cases, visits to the home. And more important than all this is the trust and confidence we impose upon the boy himself through the administrative work of theCourt. We arouse his sense of responsibility. We understand him as best we can, and we make him understand us as best we can.”Nothing could be said or written of the history of Boyville and the intention of its workers that could explain the great object in view better than the above report.
In the Boyville Association it has always been the rule that, no matter how great a wrong committed by a boy, and the fine or sentence be what it may, if the boy looks forward to doing better, to putting his whole soul into trying to do right, if he hates and despises the act committed, that boy has a right to be honorably reinstated, and is heartily welcomed back to his friends.
“Often” says a thoughtful writer, “men and women mourn over past wrong-doings with which their present identity has no connection.”
A good preacher once asked a despondent soul, whose life was shadowed by a wrong committed in early years: “Would you do the same thing again?”
“Do it again?” answered the man, “No, a thousand times, no.”
“Then,” said the preacher, “You have outgrown the conditions that caused the wrong-doing, and you are no longer responsible for it.”
The best way to correct wrong-doing is to prevent it, to warn a boy against the evil vices that tend to his ruin in later years. And one way to prevent crime is to reward virtue.
“HE WAS FISHING IN THE LAKE.”See Page205
“HE WAS FISHING IN THE LAKE.”See Page205
“HE WAS FISHING IN THE LAKE.”
See Page205
Hon. Ben. B. Lindsey, of Denver, Colorado, Judge of the County and Juvenile Court of Denver, after many years of hard work, intermingled with the kind of experience that brings good results, declares that in the work of the Juvenile Court he has found a way to make our boys of today, who are inclined to be bad, follow paths of virtue and honesty that will lead them to good and honorable citizenship, and his success has been along the same self-governing plan of the Boyville Association.
We do not think there has been a more interesting official report nor one of so great a value to the thinking people as the publication of “The Problem of the Children and How the State of Colorado Cares for them,” by Hon. Ben. B. Lindsey.
“Power under any law,” writes Judge Lindsey, “may be abused. Mistakes under any law may be made. No system is perfect. If any conceives the idea that the Juvenile Court was created for the purpose of correcting or reforming every disorderly child, they are, of course, mistaken. Jails and criminal courts never did that.On the contrary, criminality among the youth of this country has been amazingly on the increase. Over half of the inmates of jails, reformatories and prisons combined are under twenty-four years of age. They are there largely because of uncorrected delinquency in childhood. While the Juvenile Court and probation system will not, and cannot, entirely overcome delinquency and waywardness, it will do a great deal better than the jail and criminal court ever did. The Juvenile Court generally deals with cases in which there has been a failure in the home, the school, and often the church. These three institutions are the places through their various influences to form the character of the child. The Juvenile Court is rather an aid to the home and the school in the moral training of the child. If these two latter fail, the court, through its officers, can supply the deficiency. In the Denver Juvenile Court none are convicted of crime or subjected to the contamination of the jail.
“The Juvenile Court does not tolerate the idea of the child being a criminal. It does not consider the question of punishment the important thing. If the child cannot be corrected at home, for its own good and for the good of society atlarge, it is simply sent to a State public school, where discipline is superior to that of the home, and where it is intended to correct waywardness and to serve as an example to prevent waywardness in others. The purpose is, in delinquent cases, to inspire and receive obedience, to improve and strengthen character. We never release a boy upon probation until he is impressed with the idea that he must obey. It is explained what the consequences will be if he does not obey and keep his word. It is kindly, but firmly impressed why all this is so, and why, after all, he is the one we are most interested in and that it is for him we are working and not against him. We want him to work with us and not against us. He must, to do this, obey in the home, in the school, and of course, he must obey the laws of the land and respect the rights of others. We must know that he obeys. We know this by reports from the school, signed by the teacher, every two weeks; by reports from the neighborhood, when necessary to investigate, and frequently, by reports from the home, and, in exceptional cases, visits to the home. And more important than all this is the trust and confidence we impose upon the boy himself through the administrative work of theCourt. We arouse his sense of responsibility. We understand him as best we can, and we make him understand us as best we can.”
Nothing could be said or written of the history of Boyville and the intention of its workers that could explain the great object in view better than the above report.