Page Ten
T HE MI CH IGA N DA IL Y
Sunday; May 22, 1955
Page Ten THE MICHIGAN DAILY
ALGER COTTAGE is one of the older buildings at GTS. Each of the co
TRAINING SCHOOL:
GTS Provides Regulated
Life for DelinquentGirls
AMCLUSTER of bleak red brick
b s r for most of the girls," pointed out
buildings suddenly breaks the
Mrs. Barbara Watt Supeiintend-
monotony of the landscape on theMentrofS rtd
road to Adrian, Michigan.
It is here that delinquent girls IVERSAL charactesis-
between the ages of 12 and 17, Tig
tics among the girls, Mrs. Watt
are sent when local resources can .
.noted, "is a profound sense of un-
no longer help them to adjust to
- he dmans ofsocity, worthiness and a lack of self con-
trol. Their reactions are dispropor-
Committed by the juvenile tionate to stimuli and I ve found
^ courts throughout the state, these that individual behaviour is con-
girls, for the most part, need the tagious For example, if two girls
Shighly regulated life of an insti- are fighting, all the other girls will
n,4$16 +' tution. The program at Girls' join in. We must always antic
Training School is geared towards pate touble," she added
emotional and academic relearning The staff social wokers attempt
and the development of some voca- to
tionalskill give the girls an insight mnto
tional skills. their problems and the entire staff
treats them with respect. The reli-
girls now live at GTS which con- gious program at GTS i directed
tins its own school, recreation at giving the girls a spiritual un-
and religious services. dergirding. G a i n i n g vocational
'A generalized personality pat- skills also helps to give the girls
tern, such as truancy from home a feeling of worthiness
and school and 'incorrigible' beha- One of the most difficult prob-
viour, rather than a specific of- lems that Mrs. Watt faces concerns
ttages houses from 14 to 25 girls. fense is the reason for commitment the girl's adjustment after nshe
leaves GTS. Often while a child
will greatly improve at GTS, she
returns to the same 'bad' environ-
ment when she is released.
"Someone should be improving
the family while we are improving
the child," Mrs. Watt commented.
Though some community agencies
such as Family Service and the
public welfare services are trying
to improve the home environment,
not enough is being done.
T HE STAFF at GTS -numbers
u i114 and includes five social
workers, a part time psychiatrist,
a clinical psychologist (they are
asking for another), a part time
J~ physician, two registered nurses
and six special education teachers.
Each cottage where 14 to 25 girls
are housed is supervised by three
housemothers. The girls each have
their own small room.
Besides the academic work
which is mostly remedial, the girls
can learn such vocational skills as
cooking, sewing, steam or hand
laundering, stenography and cos-
metology. Trips to a nearby skat-
"ing rink or to concerts are occa-
al skills is an important part of the program at Girls Training sionally arranged for the girls.
here. "Many of the girls who come
from terribly disorganized fami-
lies, find comfort in regularized
living," Mrs. Watt pointed out. "In
fact," she continued, "it is remark-
able that we are able to do what
we do when one considers what
F the child has been through."
The most obvious need at GTS is
a financial one. There is one psy-
chiatrist on the staff and he comes
in but once a week. They cannot
afford a full time psychiatrist. A
larger teaching staff is also needed.
Some of the cottages have been
- condemned as firetraps and most
of the equipment and facilities
are antiquated.
Pictures Courtesy of
ADRIAN TELEGRAM
4Y
DETENTON COTTAGE room where violent or unruly girls are
confined temporarily.
Where in the world do you want to go?"
,x
TRAVEL BUREAU
1313 So. UNIVERSITY NO 2-5587
THE IRONING CLASS pictur.
ed above is one of the many ye-
NO CHARGE for our Services eational activities offered at
GTS. Laundry, cosmetology,
cooking and typing are some of
the therx that are available.
EACH GIRL has her own room""
which she is encouraged to de- THE ACQUIREMENT of vocation
corate. School. A sewing class is pictured
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