A radical plan is enacted when Dr. Paul Furman is assigned by the governor to take charge of a youth reformatory, replacing Colonel Walton, with a notion to offer inmates more trust. Not only does Furman ease the institution's usual strict discipline, he changes it from an all-boy detention facility to co-ed.
Juvenile delinquent Eddie Bassett observes with interest as new female inmates like Kitty and Babe arrive along with adult supervisors Grace Hartwell and Bess Monahan, who will look after the girls. As soon as the bashful Kitty expresses an interest in Eddie, the extroverted Babe causes trouble for her, causing Kitty to be injured in a fight and later attacked by another boy. Furman is also physically assaulted by Eddie.
Various misdeeds lead to the governor's firing Furman and restoring Walton and the previous routine of discipline. Eddie, beaten by a guard named Quillan, steals the guard's gun, knocks him out and leads a revolt. The only one able to quell the uprising is Furman, who, with Kitty's help, successfully appeals to Eddie to give up before it's too late.
