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 -Q d iS "" 4 r ,.,,,. .,, I , Let the breeze give you a lift in e sultry 3.95 day ahead. Comfort comes right through to You when you wear thes tlight-weight porous fabrics, for ihoy're woven to allow 4.95 jsI that. Get set now for the heat that" arnIng. ,w: I eACui r ta ac avs u .