Evening star., 1951-05-25
Shocking and Shameful

It is shocking and shameful situation when
it is necessary for 65 civic school, youth, police
and other organizations to pool their resources
in an effort to cope with youthful vandalism in
Washington. How shocking and shameful the
local problem has become was revealed at the
extraordinary meeting of more than hundred
representatives of such groups this week at the
Burdick Vocational School. The meeting was
sponsored by the Elementary Principals Associa-
ton, the members Of which have firSt-hand
knowledge of one serious phase of the problem,
school vandalism.
Mrs. Alma Shugrue, president of the associa-
ton, told the conferees that the money required
each year to replace broken windows in Wash
ington's schools would equip 18 large schools
with textbooks. She was referring not to acci-
dental breakage but to deliberate damage caused
by air rifles, stones and like missiles. Similar
mischief resulted in damage totaling $50000 to
the city's street lights during 1850. In one park
alone it will cost $4,000 to replace lights and
protective globes smashed by hoodlums. From
five to ten seats on buses and streetcars are
cut each day by passengers, according to the
Capital Transit Company. Seven or eight pas
sengers month are hit by rocks or other objects
tossed through windows of cars and buses. No
record is available of private property defaced
or destroyed in residential and business areas
Numerous suggestions for more laws to meet
the problem were made at the meeting including
a ban on juvenile possession of BIB rifles, re-
quirement that builders remove loose stones from
construction jobs to avoid tempting children to
throw them outlawing the sale of bean shooters
and so on. But none of these suggestions touches
the real root of the evil for the root lies in the
home James C. Toomey second vice president
of the District Bar Association, put his finger on
the trouble when he announced that his associa-
ton "wi support legislation transferring respon-
siblity from the state back to the family, where
it belongs" The legislation he had In mind
would hold parents legally responsible for their
childrens vandalism 1t should not be necessary
of course for Congress to spell out this parental
responsibility by law. Yet the apparent indif
ference of some parents to the nisdeeds of their
offspring, the all-too-prevalent what on earth
will do about Junior?" attitude that betokens
lack of home discipline the Boys will be boys"
type of compacency that encourages further
depredations, all these things indicate break
down in family regimen of serious concern to the
community.
1t is truiSm that boys will be boys, but
there was time when boys knew that there was
risk of stern parental punishment if they overdid
things, woodshed punishment that involved
something more severe than being deprived of
movie money for week or two. Apparently the
shingle and the strap have become as rare as the
woodshed This manifestation of parental con-
troll may be oldfashioned but it is still effective
when properly applied. 1t Is safe bet that there
would be less of the disgraceful vandalism which
has outraged police, school and other authorities
of late If more parents returned to the traditional
system of controlling their children.