But it is not only in the slums that the tendencies of the modern boy
may be studied. In the more respectable parts of town, in the vicinity
of schools and in the neighborhood of churches may be seen evidences
of what the youth of today think play.
Time was when boys were content to play marbles. Some of them, of
course, had the temerity to play for keeps. Others were taught it was
wicked, and even at the risk of being called "sissy" refrained from
disobeying their mothers. But now marbles are a thing of the past. As
soon as spring comes boys want to shoot "craps." They want to play for
money. They want to gamble.
A visit to almost any school playground during recess or the noon hour
will convince any person that the modern boy is a very wise youth. His
conversation is not a well of English pure and undefiled by any manner
of means. In the first place, his profanity is something shocking,
and, in the next place, his knowledge of the world and its wickedness
is thorough.
There is nothing the modern schoolboy does not know. He is conversant
with all sorts of vice and crime, even if he does not take an actual
part in it. If this sort of thing obtains among schoolboys and youths
of that class it is little wonder, then, that the boys of the slums
are what they are. And the pictures is not overdrawn. The conversation
of boys of ten and a dozen years will bring the blush of shame even to
a grown man.
Just how to cure all this is a question that is bothering a good many
people. Societies are being organized right and left. Homes for boys
are being established, schools are being started and other efforts are
being made to reclaim the delinquents. It has been found that good
playgrounds in the tenement districts have been beneficial. The boy
is exuberant. He must let out some of his animal spirits. If he has
a good place in which to play he will not be half as apt to get into
mischief.