The Gazette 1967/71

uously on its administration and its revision from time to time as may be necessary in the light of experience. 2. There are two types of children who may be committed to a Government Institution: (a) the child who has committed a crime which requires his committal to an Institution: (b) a child who has to be taken into the care of the State by reason of the failure of his home. We feel that these two must be accommodated in separate Institutions (we use the word Institution for the want of a better one). The reason we think that this separation should take place is. that the child who has been committed by reason of some anti social activities will tend to become a hero in the eyes of his contcmporaaries at a school and they will tend to take their values from him rather than from children with a better orientated sense of values. The tendancy therefore will be for the misguided child to influence his fellows rather than the other way about. 3. Having regard to the fact that every child in the state is obliged to receive primary education and is entitled to receive free Secondary education with its contingent entitlement to University education, the delinquent or destitute or deprived child should receive precisely the same education and, as nearly as possible, in the same circum stances. Therefore when a child is committed to a State School for one reason or another he should be sent to the same type of school as he would have gone to if he had not been separated from his home. There seems to be no reason whatsoever why a child in a State Institution who is of primary school age should not be sent to the nearest prim ary school and in the same way, having regard to the fact that every child in Ireland is now sup posed to be able to attend a Secondary School and avail of free transport for the purpose why a child in a State Institution should not attend the same school. We believe it is highly undesirable that children in State Schools should be confined within State Schools. This will not give them the same education that their fellows outside will receive. It may be technically the same but they have been deprived of the advantage of mixing with their fellows and they tend to be segregated and to come out in the world afterwards as dilf- erent children from those who attend the ordinary course of education in the National and Secondary school. For this reason we believe that children who arc committed to Institutions should live in these Institutions but should be transported to outside Schools for their classes, whether primary or

secondary and not be educated apart from their fellows outside. If they arc confined all the time they will tend to develop an Institutionalised personality and find it extremely difficult to ac commodate themselves to the world outside after their education is finished, a world about which they know nothing whatsoever. The present system requires that a child be discharged from the State Institution or School when he reaches the age of sixteen. This is com pletely inconsistant with the rights of the child who is not in a State Institution. Consequently a child should receive in a State Institution and in a manner which we have outlined precisely the same education and the same advantages and the same opportunities as a child would if he had never been committed to an Institution. This applies both to delinquent children and children who arc committed by reason of family misfortune. We accept that the existing Institutions will have to be gradually converted to this system but we sec no reason why the children in existing Institutions should not be sent out to the nearest National or Secondary Schools in the ordinary way. Subject to that we arc of opinion that the G.L.C. system of houses with ten to twelve children and house parents should be adopted as soon as possible. It gives the children something akin to family life of which in many cases, and indeed in most cases, through no fault of their own they have been deprived. Until such a system of family houses can be established the existing homes should be modernised and made bright and comfortable and pleasant to live in and while discipline must be maintained all aspects of spartanism which would not be found in the ordinary working-class home should be removed. we feel that the segregation of the sexes has its disadvantages, and while we recognise that there may be problems to bs con tended with where large numbers of children have to be accommodated in the one School in having children of both sexes accommodated, yet it is vital that there should be an influence of the opposite sex in every School. In particular in boys Schools, there should be a Matron and possibly visiting ladies who would provide a confidente for a group of boys. In this respect we see a great advantage in the G.L.C. system in that in these homes of ten or twelve there would presumably be a mixture of sexes besides the fact that there would be a house-father and a house-mother. We feel that the Matron should have some considerable say in the decoration and organisation of the amenities of the School so that her influence can