Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-09-08
BAD BOYS MADE GOOD
BY WOMAN PRINCIPAL
WITH COMMON SENSE
Helen X. Yerkes, Of Walton
Building, Has Turned Scores
of Lads From Danger
Gus Paths
FAVOR TRUANT SCHOOLS

Jimmie was a bad boy. His mother
called him naughty" and other folks said
he was too lively: but TO Miss Yerkes
he was nothing less than bad.
Defiant. sullen and lacking in the ordi-
nary social instincts, he gave ample
promise Of a future career OF criminality.
II was rumored about the neighborhood
that he had been arrested twice for lar
ceny and that It was only the interven-
tion Of n kindly policeman that saved
him from commitment to a reformatory.
In every class OF which he had been a
member he had been the bad apple OF
the barrel" and careful parents refused
to permit their children to associate with
him outside of school hours. Gentle ad-
vice was Ineffective, regardless OF its
source. An occasional whipping from his
widowed mother terrified him temporarily,
but produced no lasting result.
Miss Yerkes-Helen X. Yerkes, princi-
pal of the Rudolph S. Walton School,
2Sth and Huntington streets, tried diff
ferent plan. She called him to her ofice
and talked to him in such manrier as
would be employed by a judge In
sentencing a convicted burglar. There
was no expression of regret over the lads
moral delinquencies, nor did Miss Yerke's
attempt any kindness" Jimmie was told
emphatically and without qualification
that he was an undesirable citizen in the
school community and that unless he
mended his ways Immediately he would
be expelled. He was past the age where
he had to be kept in school because or
the compulsory attendance act.
Jimmie knew as we'll as any other boy
knows That the decisions of Miss Yerkes
are irrevocable At the beginning OF
the interview he was Indifferent; upon
delivery of Miss Yerkes' ultimatum he
showed signs of seriousness. but when
dismissed from the office he burst into
tears.
SHE WAS PLEASED
Miss Yerkes was pleased by the phe-
nomenon, not because she wanted an op-
portunity to show her sympathy, but
rather because the weeping indicated the
boys mental makeup. She decided at
once that Jimmie was a victim of nerv-
BUSINESS, and that an excess of energy
was perhaps responsible for his school
room defect.
She knew that his father had been a
victim of alcoholism and that his mother
suffered frequently from hysteria and re-
called the complaint Of all of Jtmmie's
teachers that '"he won't sit still" The
combination of these facts satisfied Miss
Yerlkes that Jimmie presented a special
problem and his case was referred to the
public school medical inspector.
The physician advised that he be sent
to the country; his suggestion was car
ried out, and through the efforts Of Miss
Yerkes, at first unsuccessful. Jimmie be-
came a farm hand. His first employer
discharged him for incompetence, the sec
ond for impudence; but after he was at
work at his third Job for a month, mat
ters went better for Jimmie. A year ago
he had been pale and wan, played spas
medically and ate little else than sweets. |
Now his cheeks were ruddy. he showed a
fair appetite and. while he was no more
willing to work than the average youth,
his employer reported progress"
WAGES INCREASED.
He received an increase in wages. and
now divides his pay with his mother. |
Once a heavy smoker of cigarettes, he |
has abandoned the habit. At the age of |
IA he was known to drink whisky; at the |
age of IS he pledged himself to total alb
stlnence. Miss Yerkes has no intention |
Of urging him to further his education; |
but he has voluntarily applied for admis-
sion to an agricultural school.
Tho Walton School has no more than
the usual proportion of bad boys. The
average pupil is as amenable to the
school law as the average adult is to the
law of the State. But Miss Yerkes has
attained city wide reputation for her
ability TO handle Special cases,