Page:1954 Juvenile Delinquency Testimony.pdf/101

Rh of shooting, knifing, throwing vocks, bombs, and ajl that, in combina- tion.

On the Long Islaud Railroad at present I think three times a day children throw rocks through the windows.

Reeently an innocent man was hit in the head and had a conenssion of the brain and had to be taken to a hospital.

T have been for 12 years in Queens. I know these kids. TI bave seen quite a number of them who threw rocks. I can't see why we have to invoke hiehtaluting psychological theories and why we say these people have to have a mother who doesn't give them enough affection.

Tf they read this stuff all the time, some of them 2 and # hours a day reading, I don't think it is sich an extraordinary event if they throw a stone somewhere where it nay do some harm.

1 want to add to this that my theory of temptation aml seduction as T told you, is very, very vague. That is known to the comic-book publishers, too. They dont admit it when it comes to delinquency, but when it comes to selling stuff to children through the udvertise- mneuts in comic books, then they have these enormous adyertisements. This is from the Superman comic book. It says, "it is easier to put a yen in a youngster."

You see, I am still answering your question. Tt is easier to put a yen in a youngster when he comes from a normal thing. It is easier to go and commit some kind of delinquency.

Certainly if is easier to commit some kind of sexual delinquency.

Now, this leads me to the third avenue where they do harm. That is, they do harm by discouraging children. Mr. Chairman, many of these comic books, crime-comle books, and many of the other ones have ads which discourage children and give them all kinds of inferiority feelings. They are threatened with pimples. They worry the pre- adolescent kids about their breaths. They sell them all kinds of medicines and gadgets and even comic books like this one, and I am very conscious of my oath, even comic books like this have fraudulent advertisements, and I am speaking now as a medical physician. The children spend a lot of money and they get very discouraged, they think they are too big, too little, or too heavy. They think this bump is too big, or too little.

These discouraged children are very apt to commit delinquency as we know and have known for a long time.

Now, the fourth avenue I shall net. go inte in detail because that in- eludes vet only the erime-comic beoks, but that mceludes all comic books.

We have found—and in response to questions I will be glad to go into that—we have found all comic books have a very bad effect on teaching the youngest children the proper reading techiique, fo learn io read from left to right. This balloon print pattern prevents that. Se many children, we say they read coinie books, they don't read comie books at all. They look at pietures and every once in a while, as one boy expresed it tome, "When they get the woinan or kill the man then I try to read a few words," but in any of these stories you don't have to have any words,

There is no doubt this is blood and this man is being killed. There is no doubt what they are going to do to this girl, you know, too.

In other words, the reading is very much interfered with.

The. Doctor, the original of all of those are in color?