Evening star., 1925-02-05
Juvenile Degeneracy.

brought to light there are numerous
evidences of the prevalence Of a hor-
rifying tendency on the part of young
people to break the laws, to tamper
with life, to commit atrocities asso-
ciable only with utter degeneracy.
Shocking precosity is manifest. Only
q few months ago the case Of two
youths in Chicago who slew a little
boy for the sake Of thrills" and
who are now in prison for the re-
mainder of their lives held the atten-
ton of the entire country. From
time to time since other instances
have occurred of this adolescent
criminality. A young girl in Cali
fornia killed her mother because she
was forbidden to attend ''jaZz parties"
Another California girl, only years
of age, has confessed to killing her
younger sisters and another person
by poison. There is some doubt Of
the truth OF her acknowledgment. 1t
may be merely a case of imagination
But it may, on the other hand, be
true. Such things are happening,
unbelievable though they may be.
Now comes the disclosure that
some one at the Ohio State University,
a student presumably. has been put
ting poison in capsules Of medicine
prepared for the use Of under
graduates suffering from colds. Two
have died and another is dangerously
Ill. These capsules were prepared in
the college Of pharmacy In the course
Of laboratory work, and the theory
is that student possessed by q spirit
Of murderous mischief put poison in
them, not with design upon any in
dividual, but for possible wholesale
killing. No specific motive OF indi-
vidual murder can be conceived as
in the dispensing Of the medicine it
is distributed on a wholesale basis.
In the case Of the two Chicago
youths education was not lacking.
Indeed, these boys were, if anything,
overenlightened. Ignorance had no
part in their degeneracy. If stu
dent at the Columbus institution has
been numbering at random, as the
facts Indicate, there can be no ex-
cuse in lack Of education. Indeed,
the crime is committed in the educa-
tional process itself.
It is in the last degree disturbing
to find such a ghastly record Of
criminality on the part Of the young
piling up in the news reports. The
present tendencies in Juvenile circles
are decidedly unwholesome. In the
ants in their teens continually ap-
pear, charged with a wide range of
offenses. The average age Of those
indicted for crimes OF violence, for
robbery, assault and murder, is lower
than it has ever BEEN. Something is
at fault in the present system Of child
training. The other day the Bishop
OF Washington, in addressing the
diocesan convention of the Episcopal
Church, declared that the parents Of
today are derelict in their duty. He
is sustained in this assertion by plain
evidences of breaking down Of
parental authority, by a weakening
Of home associations, by failure Of
the parents themselves to set proper
examples for their children.
1t is far search to find the causes
Of this condition, but the fact re-
mains that society in this country
at least is not as sound as in earlier
days, that youth is less stable moral
ly, and that unless the parents re-
assume the responsibility for the
moral welfare Of their offspring a
shocking record Of juvenile crime
threatens to grow to the point of en-
dangering the foundations of society
itself.