This, then, is a good specimen of the kind of boy the schools of the
street graduate. From these petty classes of crime they go to the high
school, the prison, where they are further grounded in the knowledge
of wickedness, and as like as not return to Chicago once more,
full-fledged criminals, ready for anything. But this is only one of
hundreds of such cases that are brought to the attention of the police
and the public every year.
Most of the boys who come here are either orphans or half orphans.
Drink has wrecked their homes, perhaps, and they are thrown out on the
world to shift for themselves. If they get into bad company they soon
make their appearance in the Juvenile Court or in jail.