The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1922-06-12
BOYS CLUBS CUT
DELINQUENCY 20 PER CENT
Recreation and Films Properly Di.
rected Make for Good
Citizenship.

Chicago, Ill. - "A million dollars
worth of good citizenship is what we
invested in when We organized the
Union League Boys Club" declared
Judge Victor P. Arnold Of the Chicago
Juvenile Court, one Of the founders OF
the club and leading spirit in the
plans for Chicago Boys Week. which
has just come to its close.
One Of the most forceful means Of
teaching boys the lessons of good cit
izenship is the motion picture, and
the screen is put to active use by
every organization working for the
right training of American youth.
During Boys Week educational films
provided by the Society for Visual Ed
ucation, picturing the duties Of citi-
zen and chapters Of the story of Amer
lea, were shown to thousands of the
boys who will be the citizens of to-
morrow.
There is no more fertile field for
constructive work than the boy" con-
tinued Judge Arnold. I'VE say that the
boy is the heart and brains of the
community. II so, let us take care OF
him. Since our first Chicago Boys
Wee ka year ago, juvenile deliinquen-
cy has decreased among boys just 20
per cent. The decrease among girls
has been Is per cent. These are the
exact figures.
81 attribute this great decrease in
delinquency to the fact that Chicago
is backing the boy. We are trying to
make him realize that he is somebody,
that he has some responsibility, in
stead of thinking of himself as just a
waste product of the streets about |
whom nobody cares an iota until he |
Is earning money. Boys Week not |
only awakens the interest of the boy |
n himself but also gives the commun-
ty an opportunity to think about boys
We seek to hold this interest during
he other fifty-one weeks Of the year"
Chicago is one fthe best organized
titles in the world in the matter of
,oys' activities. These organizations
re taking up the boys leisure hours
nd, according to Judge Arnold's ex-
'erience with thousands Of boys, it is
a after-school hours that their diff
ulties arise. To take care fthis leis-
re time the Union League two years
60 organized boys club in one of
he most congested districts of Chi
ago. An old building was remodeled
provide club rooms, library, gym
asium, shove rand swimming pool,
nd motion picture equipment was in
.alled. Every Saturday night from s
hundreds of boys see program
carefully selected movies. The
'unger boys pay membership fee OF
We cents month, the older boys ten
,nts.
At the end of nine months a survey
lowed that cases Of delinquency from
at neighborhood had dropped of
at 70 per cent. Today the club has
100 members, the boys using the club
oms for all sorts Of recreation in
cad of braking windows and getting :
to trouble generally. Other clubs Z
the country are doubtless q
ing equally good work.
Pertinent statistical data were
oted by Judge Arnold bearing on
0 relation Of clubs to the morals OF
nth. He said that "of 1000 boys
arged with violations Of criminal
ws before the English courts, less
m per cent had affiliations with P
y kind Of boys club. OF 10000 to n
900 delinsuents, only 8 per cent. be- a
,ged to the Boy Scouts - o genuine -
Itimonial to the valuable work OF
u bodybuilding organization. ] sup B
10 tho percentage In England would
ID good here" More woll-dlrected u
ys' clubs. IN the opinion OF this au-
'rity, would mean less delinquency
! q higher grade OF citizenship.
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| machine has been Invented for