There are some who insist that moral suasion should be used at all
times in an attempt to reform the juvenile. But this has been found
to fall short in many instances in Chicago. Even the Juvenile Court,
with all its benefits, is found to come somewhat short of doing
everything for the vicious lad. It is found that boys who are herded
together in penal institutions are inclined to leave such places much
worse than when they entered. The bad boys dominate. The evil spreads
and the good is suppressed. One bad boy is able to do much, while the
influence of one good boy amounts to almost nothing.
Those who have made a study of the matter aver that the only
true solution of the boy problem is individual work. The lad's
characteristics must be studied, the conditions under which he has
been living must be scrutinized and all the influences that have
been brought to bear upon his particular case must be looked into.
Under these circumstances it would take a reformer for every dozen
boys, and so far the money has not been forthcoming to support so
many reformers, for even a reformer must live. A good many of the
delinquent youths of Chicago have been reared in squalid surroundings
and have been nurtured in filth and unloveliness. They have been
surrounded from babyhood by poverty, drunkenness and depravity. These
boys take to crime as naturally as a duck does to water.
In order to reach boys and try to help them individually a movement
is now on foot to form juvenile protective leagues in all parts of
the city. One organization is now working in the vicinity of Halsted
and Twenty-second streets to put a stop to race wars between school
children. It is thought by some that this new movement will fill a
long-needed want. It is admitted by those who have given the matter
close study that something must be done.
The records of the Juvenile Court and the books of the John Worthy
School emphatically bear out this contention.