Evening star., 1943-10-24
Just Between
Ourselves
BY PHILIP H. LOVE,
Editor. The Junior Star.

The house looked as if hurricane
had ripped through it. Doors and
windows, which had been left locked
were open. A huge section of SCREEN
ing had been torn from the porch.
Much of the furniture was disar-
ranged. Contents of drawers were
streWn about the floor. Even the
laundry hamper had been emptied
If you've never come home to such
scene, you can't imagine how jolt
ing an experience 1t is.
But it wasn't hurricane that had
done the damage. 1t was a burglar.
He had ripped off the screening to
get onto the porch, and then had
forced window and climbed into
the dining room. And in daylight,
too!
The first reaction was shock,
quickly changing to fear. A thorough
search of the house by the police
diSpelled some of the fear, but not
all of it. The officers said there
had been a series Of housebreakings
in the section, all apparently the
work of the same robber, and one
home had been ransacked three
times.
/ OF course, laWbreakers always get
caught sooner or later, and this one
was no exception. But he wasn't a
hardened criminal: he was only a
boy, IT, chasing thrills.
Well. he got thrills-but not the
kind he was after, He got the thrill
of being captured by the police, of
seeing his mother in tears, his father
heartbroken: the thrill of being
hailed into Juvenile Court, perhaps
to be sentenced to a reformatory or
placed on probation, with black
mark against him for many years
to come. No boy or girl would de-
| liberately choose such thrills as
/ these.
Juvenile delinquency" the police
call it. and We hear great deal
about it these days. It's one of our
gravest wartime problems.
| Why juvenile delinquency should
be more of problem during war
than at any other time, l don't pre-
tend to know Perhaps it's only be-
cause youth wants to share in the
/ excitement of war.
That is. of course, understandable
Every one is stirred by the drama of
war But boys and girls can share
in it in worth while wayS-ways that
will bring pride and satisfaction. in
stead of shame and heartbreak
They can, for instance, develop
interesting ways to earn money for
the purchase of War bonds and
stamps: or, if they prefer, they can
help to sell bonds and stamps They
can collect old newspapers, maga-
zines and cardboard. They can sal
wage hosiery, tin cans. rubber. grease
and other scrap materials. They can
act as AFRAID messengers They can
roll bandageS for the Red Cross. In
fact. there's hardly any limit to the
variety of things they can do to help
get the war won-and every effort
no matter how small, is exciting in
its own peculiar way
|
IMAGINE the thought and energy
required to burglarize a house. I'M
agine that same thought and energy
applied to something worth while
something related to the W2r effort.
1t would accomplish great deal,
wouldn't it?
An excellent example Of what can
be accomplished by thought and en-
ergy properly directed is provided
by this note from Nan Weinman,
II. of Paul Junior High School:
For my country. I have done
many things. When the war be-
gan. I collected paper and scrap
metal. AS a Girl Scout. I worked in
the Red Gross. fixing envelopes for
drive. I helped to prepare for a
community drive When the hos
pital asked for vases, I saved bic tin
cans and painted them For Navy
hospital. I pasted crossword puzzles
on cardboard and the answers on
the back For the Red Cross. I
made little stuffed elephants and
some squares for afghans. My money
has been going 100 per cent into
War stamps"