St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-02-20
The Bad Boy of the Neighborhood.

Inc age OF GnlS pdrtiSuiai ooi iioiO
juvenile offender is nine years. At nine,
one would naturally suppose that he
could be persuaded or awed into good
behavior. But no He lives the life OF
Ishmael upon his block, and is the ter
rOr of other boys, the inciter OF dog
fights, the prosecutor of cats, the de-
testation of ladies and gentlemen. His
hand is against every man, and every
mans hand againt him. His father ad-
mits that his boy is troublesome, but
declares that other boys must defend
themselves and fight their way. He re-
fuses to interfere, and treats those who
complain to him with curtness and
contempt.
An utterly ungoverned or misgOvern-
ed boy of nine has got bad start in
deed in life. He is only little fellow,
but he is almost halfway on to man
hood. What sort of citizen will he
make? What sort of husband ? What
kind of neighbor, when the despOtism,
cruelty and cowardice, which are now
in their seed-time and harvest We are
all more or less interested in this thing,
for the bad boy is, in the majority of
cases, the predecessor of the bad man.
We see that he chews tobacco, smokes
cigarettes, and we are aware that he
persuades our boy to do the same. We
know that if he be punished in school
for an overt act of iniquity, he straight
forward vows vengeance on half dozen
little fellows, who have had good marks
all day. We have seen him fighting
like a bulldog, and have heard him
swearing. We have forbidden our chill
i l. 70 RI h1x pl-
solved that whenever we meet him,
We will pass him by with severe and
emphatic disapproval in our faces.
Well, is this the best way? know
the counsel mothers generally give
their little Sons, with regard to such an
one as have described. He is bully,
and the good boys are told to let him
alone, to get on peaceably with him !;
if need be to submit to his pummeling,
and to say, "You may strike me. but
will not strike back" l am myself in-
clined to peace, but l have my doubts
as to whether this is common sense.
believe that the coward and the bully
are near of kin, and do not like the
idea of giving the bad boy of the
neighborheod his own way. Let good
boys take their own part. Let them
learn the art of striking out straight
from the shoulder or otherwise, but of
striking in self-defense when forbear
ance has ceased to be virtue. 1t is be-
cause young Quilp is allowed to go on
his career unmolested and unresisted,
that his Quilpian traits attain to such a
growth.
Still, am far from stopping here. l
do not know that we women who have
eyes, tongues and hands, resources and
some leisure, can entirely shake off re-
sponsibility for the bad boys in our
town. We have no right to do so. If
we can, in any gentle, womanly way,
influence such child's mether-think
of it he is only child-we should do
so. She, poor woman, is probably TAX
en- up with something more absorbing
than her boy. 1t is fashion, or her
homework, or her sewing, or her latest
baby, or a novel, which fills up her
days, or it may be she is an invalid and
cannot endure Johnnie's noise. Let me
tell you little story. There was once
a boy, who came into the library where
sat his mamma with her feet on the
fender and book in her hand. He
began to play, not very nOisily, but her
|
little disturbance, so she said, go
away, Johnnie, l cannot have you here.
The aunt who happened to be present,
said her heart ached at the little fell
lows answer. "Where shall ] GO? | 90
into the kitchen, and the cook says,
go awayr l go into the nursery and
the nurse tells me to go away. l come
here by my mamma, and she tells me
to go away. know what I'll do, I'll
go into the street."
Many little fellow is driven into the
street, and there he learns evil lessons
with fatal facility. If he had a place of
his own in the house, if he had pets of
his own to love and care for, if he had
a tOolbox and liberty to use it, above
all, if he had a sympathizing friend in
sister or mother, he would not be so
tormenting. l think if we would coca
siOnally give him an invitation to tea,
and put on plenty of sweet cakes and
fruit, and then entertain him with
games and pictures and music, we
should find that we had taken one step
forward. We should be helping him to
discover the gentleman in himself, and
if that once comes to the surface, the
rough will hide his head.
Let us not forget to distinguish al
ways between mischief and depravity
That which is mere reckless fun, bravo
do, and overflow of spirits, is very diff
! ferent from that which is vicious, mean
and dishonorable. 1 cannot feel salts.
fed when l think of bad boy any.
where, in any station, who is given uI
as incorrigible under twelve years o
age. Love can save him, you may de-
pend upon it'll. e. Sangster IN Intel
ligencer.
A HINT TO THE GIRLs.-Stick al