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No Easy AnswerLast week the boy scouts of Freeport made a ceremony of burning a pile of comic books assembled by individualscouts. This burning of books was of a different sort from the kind that have occurred in totalitarian lands, where works ot science or politics are not tolerated if they contain ideas inimical to despotism. But the burning of the comic books had one quality in common with the book fires in Germany a few years ago. In neither case will the book burnings destroy the ideas ilia? were in the books. In both cases tnere will be more books where those came from.This is not to decry the burning of the comic books, which is a good gesture. So Jar as this column is concerned, the comic books oi the grosser sort, as well as most of those of the less anti-social type, could all be tumbled into bonfires and furnaces at once. But the burned comic books can easily be* replaced, and ilie subversive ideas in them are spread by many other agencies, including press, radio and mu-tion pictures, the conversation and conduct of adults, and indeed by any andevery medium of communication or'socialgroup. There is, in short, no easv or conclusive answer to the problem of juvenile delinquency, and it is useless to look fur one. A short time ago it was the fashion to say that parents are responsible for juvenile delinquency; now the press and radio seem to be placing chief blame on comic books.It is certainly to be noted, however, that the misconduct of young people is veryoften in families where it would not be expected at all. The remedies must be based on a searching investigation of allI he factors of child life, the biology, sociology or peculiar environment and' physical background of young people.
Newspaper Details
Freeport Journal Standard
Freeport, Illinois, US
Thu, Sep 09, 1948
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Boyd C.
KY, USA 29 Sep 2017
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