Page:1954 Juvenile Delinquency Testimony.pdf/97

Rh In other words, this is something now which juvenile delinquents did which I never heard of yerrs ago. They shoot people in the eye and they throw stones and so on.

As an example, I would give you a book which nobody would testify is a crime comic book if you had not read it. You all know the novels of Tarzan whieh you all saw in the movies, but the comic book Tarzan which any mother would let come into her home has a story which a little boy brought me in which 22 people are blinded.

One of the 22 is a beautiful a@irl. They are all white people who are blinded and the ian who does it isa Ne egro, 86 in addition to that it causes n great deal of race hatred.

Hew old are the children to whom such things nre given? Dell Publshing Co., which publishes this book, boasts that this stor y is heing read aloud to a little girl who- -she is 2 years old—now, of course, many other crime comic books have this injury to the eye motive,

In other words, [ think that comic books primarily, and that is the greatest harm they do. cause a great deal of ethical contusion.

I would like to give you a very brief example. There is a school in a town in New York State where there has heen a vreat deal of steal- ing. Some time ago some boys attacked another hoy : and they twisted his arm so vicionsly that it broke in two places, and, just bike in a comic book, the bone came throngh the skin.

In the same school about 10 days later 7 boys pouneed on another boy and pushed his head against the concrete so that the boy was mecon- scious and had to be taken to the hospital. Te had a conenssion of the brain.

In this same high school in 1 year 26 girls became pregnant. The score this year, I think, is eight. Maybe it is nine by now.

Now, Mr. Chairman, this is what I call ethical and moral confusion. I donlt think that any of these boys or girls individually vary very much. It cannot be explained individually, alone.

Here is a general moral confusion and I think that these girls were seduced mentally long before they were seduced physically, and, of course, all those people there are very, very greatnot all of them, but most of them, are very great comic book readers, have been and are.

Asa remedy they have suggested a formal course of sex instruction in this school.

The. What is the population of this community, Doctor?

Dr. . I don't know the population of the community. I know the population of the school, which is about 1,800. The town itself I don't know, but I shall give it to counsel.

The. The Senator from Tennessee.

Senator. Is there something confidential about the name of the town?

Dr. . Yes. Publicly I don't like to give it, but I have knowledge of it, but I will give it to counsel for the information of the committee.

The. That will be in order.

Dr. . Now, they tried to start a course of sex instruction in this school. They have not done it. They have not started it. I wonder what they are going to do. Are the teachers going to instruct the pupils, or are the pupils going to instruct the teachers?