Page:1954 Juvenile Delinquency Testimony.pdf/78

66 Senator. Thank you, Doctor,

Mr. . I have just one more question, Mur. Chairman.

The. Proceed, Mr. Beaser.

Mr. . Doctor, you haye seen the pages of comie books or any illustrated magazine usect for teaching chikdren what to de. Teach- ing them te do goad things is what F meant, mental health, hygiene, and so forth.

Is it also possible to utilize the pages of the comics through crime and horror so that children learn to do bad things?

Dr. . Certainly andiovisual aids are enjoying increasing prom- inence in educational techniques.

I think, as a matter of fact, one of our local correctional institu- tions, the New York state School, is nsing a comic-book type of pres- entation for its new arrivals to help orient them to the place and before they arrive there they give them some real fecling of what the place is about.

So certainly the comie book, I don't believe. should be devised as a form. As to whether or not tt can teach bad things, 1 think very largely that depends on who is being taught and what their situation is.

I think the children, many of what need expression, many of whom are frustrated, who are in deprived situations, certainly will look to the comic bools for release and for expression of the kid of violence which is bemg stirred up in ihem.

Children who are suffering disturbances in their own family situa- tions will be especially susceptible to the kind of material in which pirent figures engage in all kinds of perverse activities.

So that [ think when one says that they may teach bad things, one has to qualify 1¢ 11 that way,

Mr. . No further questions, Mr. Chairman.

The. Doctor, you referred to reading deficiencies in respect to the more classical type of fairy tale. Now, these children would not have any trouble reacling these things, wowd they, children to whom you referred?

Dr. . Some would, some would have to look at the pictures, In a study of our court population we found that 75 percent of the popa- Jation who were brought in for other than school difficulties were at least 2 years retarded in reading and )iaif of those were 5 years re- tarded in reading, which means that a fair number of them were nan- readers and would barely be able to inake out some of the material even inthe comic books.

Senator. Dr. Peck, do you feel that the stable children who could, without doing any harm to themselves read these horror and crime comics, usually are the ones that are not reading them, but are reading something else and the maladjusted, unstable child who ought to be reading something else is usually the one who is found with horror and crime comics. Is that the situation?

Dr. . I suspect that trend exists. That is not to say that so- called normal children may not find some interest in this kind of ma- terial and withont it necessarily precipitating them inte delinquency. Certainly, Ll think we might talk about more or less desirable eduea- tional materials, and this would certainly he one of the less desirable.

Senator. Dr. Peck, did you give the subcommittee any