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THE JUVENILE COURT RECORD

the shoes for sweets when he was arrested. The judge looked at his hunger-pinched face and let him go.

The next case was a boy about six years of age he stole a sixpence and bought sweets. The judge said to me, "I can't punish that boy, he looks too hungry," and he let him go.

Not all boys are let go-many of them are birched.

Bernard Shaw said to me the other day that the proper function of policemen was to seize every hungry child and feed it instead of preventing it from getting food as at present, but unhappily the London police do not accept orders from Mr. Shaw.

Increased Powers of Birching Asked For

There is, in some quarters, a strong desire to treat juvenile delinquency by violent and repressive measures, and the Home Secretary has been asked by some Benches of Magistrates and even by Educational Committees to extend the age limit up to which boys may be birched to 16 (instead of 14, as at present), to increase the number of strokes allowed to 12, and to make this punishment applicable to all offenses committed by boys. Happily, the Home Secretary refused these retrograde proposals.

Birching is not reformative, but merely punitive and retaliatory in character; it belongs to a past age and mode of thought.

In many cases it is not even a deterrent; the State Children's Association has collected a mass of reports of Children's Court cases, showing that where a birching has been administered the boy has reappeared at the court, charged with a new offense the next day, week, or month.

In those instances where the birching appears to have acted as a deterrent, it must be remembered that fear is the lowest motive which can control moral action, and is in itself degrading. The child's character, therefore, has not been strengthened or uplifted, but debased by this treatment.

From the physical point of view a Police Court birching for young children is liable to produce

serious nervous consequences, while for boys approaching adolescence—and this is the period when most juvenile delinquency takes placesuch treatment may have permanent psychic effects of a peculiarly undesirable kind.

Were the parents of the children to administer a castigation as severe as some Police Court birchings, they would be liable to a prosecution by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Imprisonment of Young Persons

A disquieting feature of present day administration in the English Courts of Justice is the growing frequency with which young persons— and especially lads—of 17, 16, and even 15, are sentenced to periods of imprisonment, varying from 7 or 14 days to 6 months, or are remanded to prison. This is done in spite of the repeated protests at such action by the Prison Commissioners, who know from bitter experience the blighting effect on boys and girls of this age of prison atmosphere and associations.

The number of children and young persons brought before the Juvenile Courts in 1916, was 47,362.

A hundred years ago it was the law in England that children convicted of stealing should be executed. Children are not hanged now for stealing, but they are birched, and at present there is a great agitation to increase the amount of birching on account of the increased amount of stealing.

It seems to me that it would be wiser to direct our efforts to increasing the supply of sugar and other foods that the children need for healthy growth, and do away with the birching altogether. Don't punish hungry children-feed them. Don't do without sugar, destroy the German submarine.

PAROLE AGENT

$125 per month, open to male citizens of Illinois over 28. Three positions to fill now. Examination January 19, 1915. For application blank and further details, send three cents in stamps to State Civil Service Commission, Springfield, Illinois.

First Teeth of Infants
Need Care

Should Be Brushed by Mothers

B

Cleanliness Paves Way for Second Set

By U. S. Children's Bureau

Y THE end of the second year the baby should have his milk teeth complete, and until the sixth or seventh year when the permanent set will begin to appear, these teeth must serve all the purposes that the final set will serve later.

Since this is the time the child is learning to chew his food, a process necessary not only for proper digestion but for the strengthening and developing of his jaws and for the proper growth of the permanent teeth, it is important to keep the first teeth in the best possible working order. The condition of the teeth is a fair index to the general health of the child.

Until the child is old enough to use a toothbrush himself the mother should wash his teeth every day; but as early as possible the child should learn to care for his own teeth. If the teeth can not conveniently be cleaned after each meal, the mouth may at least be rinsed

Children should be taught that it is of special importance to wash the teeth and mouth after eating nuts or any sweet. sticky or pasty food. The teeth should be carefully cleaned at bedtime since the fermentation of food particles left in the mouth. which leads to the decay of the teeth, proceeds more rapidly at night when the mouth is still.

The child should be taught to brush the teeth from the gum downward or upward toward the cutting edge. When the teeth are brushed crosswise the tendency is to push whatever is on them into the cracks and crevices of the teeth or under the edges of the gums. The inner surfaces of the teeth should also be brushed up and down, and the grinding surfaces should be

scrubbed in all directions; after the scrubbing is finished the mouth should be thoroughly rinsed with warm water.

Some hard food like a stalk of celery or part of a ripe, juicy apple eaten at the end of a meal scours the surface of the teeth and leaves a fresh, clean taste in the mouth.

Children should be taken regularly to a good dentist once or twice a year after the first set of teeth is complete. If cavities appear they should be filled with soft fillings, and each tooth should be saved as long as possible.

If the temporary molars are extracted before the sixth-year molars come in the latter will be apt to crowd forward into the space left vacant and when the later teeth come they will be pushed out of their regular places, destroying the natural line of the mouth. The first molars furnish the grinding surface necessary to proper chewing of the food. If they fall out too soon the child is hardly able to chew hard or tough food, and is likely to swallow such food in chuncks.

The care of the child's first teeth is important also because the health of the permanent set is largely dependent upon that of the first set. The second teeth are much larger than the first and consequently need more room in the gum. For necessary development the jaws must be given plenty of exercise.

Consequently the child should have a mixed diet, including some hard food which he can not swallow without chewing. Toast, crusts, hard crackers, certain fruits, like apples, salad, vegetables and meats should provide the food clements needed for healthy teeth if the child is thriving.

For the Care of Homeless and

T

Dependent Children

HE National Children's Home and Welfare Association is a federation of thirty-three state societies, each one chartered under its state law for the purpose of caring for homeless, dependent and neglected children.

The policy of these societies is to receive all such children when requested to do so, care for their every temporary need, place them in selected, Christian homes and then carefully supervise them until they become of age, replacing them whenever the home in which they are becomes unsuitable for any reason.

The National Society holds an annual convention, usually at the time and place of the National Conference of Welfare Work. The next annual convention will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, either in May or June of 1918.

The present officers of the National Society are:

D. F. Shirk, President, Topeka, Kansas.

S. W. Dickinson, Vice-President, St. Paul, Minnesota.

W. S. Reynolds, Secretary, Chicago, Illinois.

Marcus C. Fagg, Assistant Secretary, Jacksonville, Florida.
Dimmitt C. Hutchins, Counselor, Chicago, Illinois.

The following states are members of the National body and application for membership has been received from Arkansas, Arizona and Louisiana.

Applications for children should be made to The Juvenile Court Record and local information can be obtained by addressing the state superintendent of any one of these societies, whose name and address are given in connection with their state.

1. Alabama Children's Home Society, Ralph Barrow, Superintendent, Birmingham, Alabama.

2. California Children's Home Society,

Mrs. F. E. L. Bailey, Superintendent,

2414 Griffith Avenue, Los Angeles, California.

3. Florida Children's Home Society, Marcus C. Fagg, Superintendent, Jacksonville, Florida.

4. Georgia Children's Home Society,

Robert B. McCord, Superintendent,
1319 Hurt Bldg., Atlanta, Georgia.

5. Idaho Children's Home Finding and Aid Society,
Dr. J. W. Flesher, Superintendent,
Boise, Idaho.

6. Illinois Children's Home and Aid Society, W. S. Reynolds, Superintendent,

1818 Republic Bldg, Chicago, Illinois.

7. Iowa Children's Home Society,

Rev. A. T. Burnell, Superintendent,
Des Moines, Iowa.

8. Kansas Children's Home Society,
D. F. Shirk, Superintendent,
Topeka, Kansas.

9. Kentucky Children's Home Society,
George L. Sehon, Superintendent,
1086 Baxter Ave., Louisville, Kentucky.

10. Michigan's Children's Home Society,
Rev. A. H. Stoneman, Superintendent,
St. Joseph, Michigan.

11. Minnesota Children's Home Society,
Rev. S. W. Dickinson, Superintendent,
Commonwealth Ave., St. Anthony Park, St. Paul,
Minnesota.

12. Mississippi Children's Home Society,
Rev. John L. Green, Superintendent,
Jackson, Mississippi.

13. Missouri Children's Home Society,

Rev. C. C. Stahmann, Superintendent,
4427 Margaretta Ave., St. Louis, Missouri.

11. Montana Children's Home Society,
Rev. J. V. Hawk, Superintendent,
Helena, Montana.

15. Nebraska Children's Home Society, Rev. E. P. Quivey, Superintendent, 541 Brown Block, Omaha, Nebraska.

16. New Jersey Children's Home Society,

Rev. J. C. Stock, Superintendent,

Room 42 Forest-Richey Bldg., Trenton, N. J.
(Delaware Auxiliary.)

17. New Mexico Children's Home Society, Rev. C. E. Lukens, Superintendent, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

18. New York Children's Aid Society, Charles Loring Brace, Superintendent, 105 East 22d St., New York, N. Y.

19. North Carolina Children's Home Society,
L. H. Putnam, Superintendent,
Greensboro, North Carolina.

20. North Dakota Children's Home Society,
Frank D. Hall, Superintendent,
Fargo, North Dakota.

21. Ohio Children's Home Society,

Dr. F. H. Darby, Superintendent,
34 West 1st Ave., Columbus, Ohio.

22. Oklahoma Children's Home Society,
Chas. G. Putney, State Superintendent,

241 Terminal Arcade, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

23. Oregon Boys' and Girls' Aid Society, R. E. Arne, Superintendent,

E. 29th and Irving Street, Portland, Oregon. 24. Pennsylvania Children's Home Society,

Rev. W. Henry Thompson, Superintendent, 519 Ferguson Bldg., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 25. South Carolina Children's Home Society, J. H. Crook, Superintendent, Greenville, South Carolina.

26. South Dakota Children's Home Society; A. D. Stuckeman, Superintendent, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

27. Tennessee Children's Home Society, B. G. Regen, Superintendent, Nashville, Tennessee.

28. Texas Children's Home Society,

Mrs. I. Z. T. Morris, Superintendent,
Polytechnic Heights, Ft. Worth, Texas.

29. Virginia Children's Home Society,
Rev. W. J. Maybee, Superintendent,
Richmond Virginia.

30. Washington Children's Home Society,
Rev. Marion Johnson, Superintendent,
323 New York Block, Seattle, Washington.
31. West Virginia Children's Home Society,
Rev. N. O. Sowers, Superintendent,
Charleston, West Virginia.

32. Wisconsin Children's Home Society,
Rev. J. P. Dysart, Superintendent,

59 Loan & Trust Bldg., Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

33. Wyoming Children's Home Society, Miss Allie Jewell, Superintendent, Wheatland, Wyoming.

HELP US MAKE 1918 A BANNER YEAR

SEE PAGES 14 AND 15

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HILDREN PLACED IN HOMES.
CO-OPERATING WITH INSTI-
TUTIONS IN ALL THE STATES

The Juvenile Court Record is making an appeal to the families in the United States to open their hearts and their homes to children, and to give them that love for which their lonely little hearts have been longing and from which they have been deprived through no fault of their own. Do not think that these children will be uncared for if you fail to meet this opportunity, for others will answer the call. The Juvenile Court Record is offering, not begging, and it is offering the most precious gift in all the world that which money cannot buy and which longings cannot bring-a little child. Yours will be the loss if you fail to grasp this blessed opportunity of receiving one of these little ones in the name of the Master.

FOR INFORMATION ADDRESS

THE JUVENILE COURT RECORD

CHILD-PLACING DEPT.

HEAR BUILDING, CHICAGO

(ENCLOSE STAMPED ENVELOPE)

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