Evening star., 1933-10-15
SCHOOLS ENGAGE
|N'WAR ON CRIME
Churches Also Take Up Chi.
cago Fight, With Increas-
ing Effectiveness.
SUCCESS IN WISCONSIN
Big. Brother Movement in Peoria,
ILL.,, Saves ManyYouths
From Prison.
ny RUTHWELL DUNCAN.

Special Dispatch to The star.
CHICAGO, October lathe Middle
Vests battle on crime isn't confined TO
building bigger and better penlten-
tiaries, putting AL Capone and his CO.
horts behind the bars, and making
more effcient police radio systems. A
survey of various cities in the lakes
region shows that the night Is Deing
carried on in the schools and cnurcneS
with an increasing effectiveness.
wisconsin has reduced its crime rec
ord to one of the lowest Of any State
in the Union, due to its relentless pur-
suit and prosecution Of criminals. un-
hampered by graft and corruption
which have paralyzed police forces ana
courts in so many communities. In MIL
waukee murder is almost as rare as It
is in London, while in many q small
town the ancient "calaboose" Is rusty
from disuse or has been turned into
storage house.
Varied Illinois Activities.
Illinois is fighting crime with . va
ried program, including the segregation
Of criminals in different penitentiar1es'
and in local programs OF civic eouca-
tion In Peoria. q city Of more than
100 600 people, Q big brother program
has all but put the juvenile court out
of business, and has prevented the send
ing OF a single boy to the State REFORM
atory for more than eighteen months
More than that, 1t has secured the re-
turn of about 40 lads from the State
school and Is inducing each one OF
them into good citizenship through
proper leadership and encouragement.
In Chicago, one of the most inter-
esting and effective methods OF dealing
with potential criminals, namely those
who are habitual truants from class
rooms, is that Of the laboratory schools,
which analyZe a boys disposition and
tendencies and prescribe treatment
much as physician diagnoses physical
ills and puts the process OF cure into
action, or q chemist by the test tube de-
termines the ingredients Of q COM
pound.
Here the laboratory school Is called
the Prenatal School. and before 1t was
opened zoos petitions were filed for
entry Of confirmed truants among Chi
cago boys. Last year there were but 238.
and the results are shown in the fact
that juvenile delinquency in Chicago
is on the decrease, in spite OF growing
population and the degenerative ten
dencies Of the time.
Boys Attitudes Changed.
Miss Isabella Dolton, assistant super
intendent of schools. said today that
the experimental schools are able to
change the attitude of the boys and to
enable them to fit into the regular
schools. Last year an average attend
ance Of 1888 per cent of these former
habitual truants was obtained by these
special laboratory schools. while the
average for the entire city school sys-
tenn was but 945 per cent. Ninety-five
boys, formerly given up In despair by
their teachers. were returned to their
schools during the year after the spe-
cial care, and 80 of them made good.
Only IS had to be returned.
I'm former times such boys would be
expelled. allowed to drift and finally in
all probability be sent to a reform
school," said Miss Dolton. Most of
them would have progressed into life
Of crime Now by arousing their inter-
ests and helping them to develop a
proper social attitude, we are enabled
to assist pearly all Of them to good
citizenship