Melissa Hinton

CJUS 2020
Units 13-15 300 Word Essay #2
Dr. Anna Netterville
11/18/2013

The point of the Child Savers were to dissuade children from committing what was
deemed immoral and unlawful actions. Actions such as these were staying out too late, begging,
fighting, etc. In place of these aberrant acts, more meaningful acts were placed; such as
education and preparation for their future. Before the time of prohibition children were used for
labor and they were often victims of exploitation. These problems stemmed from the placement
in group childrens homes, poor family up-bringing, as well as underprivileged households.
These children were not bad children, instead they were the resulting products of the injustices
they were privy to in their home life.
The juvenile courts motioned that, The children of the poor were processed through the
system, but those of the more well-to-do were handled informally. (Americas Courts and the
Criminal Justice System, 2011) Before the Progressive made strides within the Juvenile System,
children were thought of as tiny adults. Children that were less than 7-years-old were thought of
as be just children. However, those that were any older were thought of as miniature adults.
Because of this they received the same punishments as their adult counterparts. They were also
jailed with adults instead of having separate living quarters like we see now. Now, we see
children as those that have not fully developed into adults. We realize that they do not possess
the same cognitive skills and moral capacity that adults have. Although this is true, we also see
those that are not capable of disciplining their own children correctly and that is where parens

patriae1 falls into place. Children may become wards of the state if a parent is unable to raise
their child properly. The state does this to protect the well-being of the child. And in some of the
more extreme cases these parents may have to hand their rights to parenting over to the state
indefinitely.
Although the state may become parens patriae, it is still highly debatable on what is and
what is not acceptable for the proper upbringing of a child. What some parents see fit, the state
may see unfit. If a parent uses physical punishment (not as extreme as beating), through
spanking to discipline a child, the state may see the parent as unfit. So, as you can see there are
pros and cons to the Progressive and Child Saver Movements.

The state as parent; the state as guardian and protector of all citizens (such as juveniles) who are
unable to protect themselves.

Works Cited
Americas Courts and the Criminal Justice System. (2011). In H. F. David W. Neubauer, & 10th
(Ed.).