Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1909-11-27
Americas, Ga, November &c, 1909.
BOYS RUINED IN THEIR OWN
HOMES.

BOYS RUINED IN THEIR OWN
HOMES.
The reports from the larger cities of
| the land showing the rapid increase In
the business of the Juvenile courts is
not an encouraging feature of the life
of to-day 1t indicates either a moral
| degeneration in the race or careless
| ness or absolute indifference in the
| training of the young that is sugges-
| tive of very sad consequences in the
coming years. Added to the tremen-
dous increase in crime throughout the
country among adults, the sweeping
| growth of divorce, and the food Of
| immortality that characterizes the
great cities of the country, it is we'll
calculated to produce serious thoughts
I even among those not inclined to view
things with pessimistic eye. A ma
| ton where violation of the laws is be-
coming pronounced among the grow
ing boys faces a problem that may be
| difficult of solution but that must be
grappled with if the very foundations
on which public peace and the perm
anency of government rest are not to
be weakened and rendered insecure.
Three factors must be put to work
to remedy this condition, this appar-
emily growing trend among the youth
| of the country toward a false view os
life and the weakening of the moral
standards of the future generations,
if not toward the actual commission
OF crimes. They are the home, the
| public schools and the church. Their
relative Importance is about in the
order in which they are given. First
| and most important stands the home.
Given home in which respect for
| parental authority is observed, in
which respect for the rights Of Others
is inculcated, where obedience to the
laws of the community are taught and
insisted upon, and where a clean at
mosphere surrounds the children, and
the output in men and women is apt
to measure up to a reasonably good
standard of decency in all things
Given one in which the parents fail
in these essentials, in which offenses
against neighbors or the public gen
orally are condoned, in which the
children are sustained in their incli-
nations toward wrong doing, in which
the wishes of the child and not its
best interest govern, and the result
is almost inevitably an addition to the
cases to be dealt with in the courts.
Indifference on the part of the pa
rents of the land is undoubtedly today
the one single greatest cause of mis-
| demeanors and crimes. The father
who fails to know whether his boy
carries revolver. whether he is read
| ing trashy stories, whether he is run
| ming the streets at late hour of the
night, is laying up stores of trouble
for himself and the community. The
mother who excuses the boys miscon-
duct in school and places the respon-
| sibility on the teacher, who protects
the boy from proper punishment at
the hands of the father, who condones
his disregard of property rights and
INDUCES his idle tendencies, is apt
to find sorrow and shame her reward
IN later years. Yet in how many
homes are these the prevalent condi-
tons? In the home circle the founda-
tions must be laid on which character
is to be reared, and in too many
homes the foundation is purely one of
quicksand.
Discussing this feature OF some re-
cent bold crimes by boys a writer il
the New York Tribune insists that
the reformation of many parents is
really what is needed Says he in
this connection.
Precocity seems to be inherent in
the modern youth, but to Judge from
the number of stories of crimes com
mltted during the last few DAYS nv
ooys who ought to be in the grammar
or nigh schools it would appear that
the time has arrived to1restore the
rising generation to it's old status. In
Kansas youth of II, with a compan-
ION OF 10, robs bank, kills. a police
man, and Injuries another man. At
syracuse two young men with Wild
west aspirations, one of them Is and
the other Is years of age, climb
ABOARD train while at the station
ana enter the express car to rob II
AFTER the train is well under way. at
New Albany, Ind, a 17-year-old reader
Oh cheap Observation-Disclosures novels
in an effort to rob the Merchants
National Bank, shoots and kf1Ig The
cashier and seriously wounds tbe
president of the institution
There is some reason to believe
that the boys themselves are NOT an
tlreIy at fault. Parental resnonsihiI.
NY rests more lightly upon heads of
sousehoids, today apparently than it
did generation ago. However we
may deplore the use of these mar
suasive means so much IN voi-ra n
the boyhoods of the grandfathers Of
.ne present generation, and however
mucn we may approve of the modern
methods OF moral suasion-where If
Works-there still fingers the suspi-
clon that session in the woodshed
WIN the stern father and a good strap
might have most salutary effect on
some Of the present-day juvenile
criminals. Probably many parents
might say if they would, in the words
OF the New Albany father: ITO tell
the truth, the boy never had proper
care He has reared himself and was
an lnveeerate reader of cheap novels. y
II IS TO be feared that many parents
are 100 busy TO devote the proper
amount OF time to the training OF their
chlldren, and where this Is the case
tney have only themselves TO blame
Wheh shame and disgrace are brought