When he follows up, and explores the school, Dr. Jason is shocked to discover that not only is his advice not being followed but the girls are forced to work as farm hands and in a sweatshop laundry and are punished with solitary confinement if they refuse.

Meanwhile, Dr. Jason and Miss Levering meet on their day off and she explains that if she had supported him with the staff she would be fired and would then be unable to help the girls at all.

Under the new regime, the harsh punishments are abolished, the farm and the laundry are shut down and replaced by vocational training programs, and a number of other reforms are instituted.

The morale and behavior of the girls improves dramatically, though Loretta is jealous of Miss Levering and Dolores, a chronic runaway, still has trouble socializing.

Eventually Dr. Jason and Miss Levering arrange a dance, inviting boys from a nearby trade school.

The night of the dance, one of the girls "borrows" a bottle of perfume from Mrs. Beuhler who directs her anger at Dolores by cutting off her hair.

Loretta, hurt by Dr. Jason's rejection of her at the dance, runs back to the dormitory where she finds Dolores has committed suicide.

Fearing a return of harsh conditions, Loretta escapes with two other girls, Jane and Jackie, as seen at the start of the movie.

The suicide and runaways are blamed on Jason's methods and Jane and the other girls refuse to corroborate the incidents with the fire hose or the hair cutting.

A Jewish home for blind and elderly people in upstate New York was used to represent the Elmview Corrections School for Girls, a fictional institution.

[5] Turner Classic Movies described the critical response to So Young, So Bad as "tepid" because independent film-making techniques were not as appreciated in the 1950s as they were in later years.