Evening star., 1944-07-31

Jack was handsome l0-year-
from nice" part of town But he
was f1unking in school and liked to
play hookie. He was pugnacious,
too
I'VE get Jack to do our fighting
for us" one of his classmates said.
He doesn't care who he hurts"
Richard, who was IL, came from a
poorer section. But he had a bad
temper, too, and his school work was
inferior. His playmates said he was
mean" and little odd, because he
talked to himself and said strange
things.
Jack and Richard-along with 166
other youngsters-were referred to
the Board of Public Welfare last
winter when it started a project to
see what could be done through a
staff of seven social workers for NAL
adjusted youngsters who gave PROM
ise of becoming more serious prob
lens later.
First Prevention Project.
1t was the boards first project di-
rected specifically to prevent delin-
quency and was launched after a
check showed that 80 per cent of the
children in the boards protective
service care showed a delinquency
pattern.
Jack wasn't easy to know at first
He didn't like grown-ups. He
thought his mother gave most of
her attention to a younger sister
and his older brother treated him
as pest. His teacher was disguised
with him, too. His father had been
different. He had dotted on Jack
But his father had died the year
before.
Probably he never would have
gotten along with the social worker
If he hadn't been curious. She
came to his school every Wednes-
day and he came to see what she
would say. Once they talked about
things she'd done when she was his
age and he started telling her what
he would like to do If he could. She
was at the school day when he
got in fight and he somehow felt
ashamed, but she discussed it as if
she weren't angry.
He invited her to 60 home with
him. Soon he was telling her how
he missed his dad and she reminded
Jack that his mother missed him,
too. After that he and his mother
became pals.
Begins to Like Teacher.
He began to like his teacher, too.
She even asked him to do an errand
for he,'-a difficult one.
BY June his teacher, the social
worker and Jack decided he could
be promoted if he went to summer
school. That made him feel better.
And, according to his calendar, he
hadn't had fight for seven weeks.
Richard had lot of real problems.
His parents had seven children and
although they both worked hard
Richard didn't have good clothes.
He was bored in school and didn't 60
anywhere because he didn't have
any money to spend.
He liked the social worker from
the start, because she helped him
out of scrape at school, When she
told him his art work was good, he
laughed but said he'd 60 to the art
gallery with her. The next day in
school he told about the trip. He
even agreed to keep a scrap book on
Washington. Nobody else in his
class had one.
Visits Art Gallery.
After his new friend talked with
his parents he got some new clothes.
Then he and his mother visited an
art gallery together while an aunt
came in to stay with the other chill
dren.
He started doing better work in
school, too, after he took a funny
test" at the clinic and the social
worker said he was smart.
He didn't stop fighting right
away, but he's going to junior high
school next fall and he's talked over
the courses. The art class sounds
really good.
Helen was one of the few girls in
the project in which boys outnum-
bered girls IA to "A.
She was 8 and attractive, but she
was shy and thought the grown
people in her family picked on her.
These included her grandfather, a
rather irritable and lonely person,
who claimed Helen was all he had
to live for. He had taken her to
an aunt's home after her parents
we're divorced. Her aunt was good
to her, but she already had a full
household when Helen arrived.
After the divorce Helen's mother
had remarked and had several
young children by her stepfather.
Back With Mother.
When the case worker and Helen
became friends. the youngster con-
fided she wanted very much to be
back with her mother. It wasn't
hard to arrange after . talk with
!.