BOY GANGS

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 123, 26 May 1928, Page 11

BOY GANGS

BIGHT ORGANISATION DECLINE IN HOME LIFE (Written for "The Tost.") Have you over wondered what it is that causes those groups of young men in their teens to congregate on our .street corners? in our parks? or in some •particular rendezvous? As they pause in their conversation to gaze as one passes by, a multitude of queries suggest themselves. What do they talk about?, IJavo they a leader? Do they ever do anything: If so, for good, or for ill; Why do we not soo similar groups of girls? The public has had its attention drawn recently to tho doings of the Chevrolet Gang," a group of youths who devoted much time and attention to converting cars to their use; and now comes very outspoken comment from the Magisterial Bench in a southern city about the gang element there. Hero again other people's motor-cars seem to have been the downfall of tho youths, and the Magistrate has declared his intention to break up these associations of young men. Psychologists tell us that this gang instinct is exceedingly prominent in the adolescent. In early adolescence, the activities of the gang seem to bo to.play games, to seek adventure, to go swimming, boating, and playing Indians in the ,'oods, to make mischief, perhaps to steal, and certainly to fight other gangs. Each is organised, has its own leaders, its own meeting place, and its own code of laws. Loyalty is the moral cornorstono of all, and "squealing" tho unpardonable sin. Boys of all classes join gangs. Those made- up of boys from good homos are more ephemeral and less closely organised than, those made up of boys from poorly environed homes. A good gang dies young. Tho tough gang is longlived and becomes conspicuous through its lawlessness. It thus comes about that the public'in general misunderstands and disapproves of the gang. Thero is nothing evil in the gang instinct. We soo survivals of it in our Rotary Clubs,'our lodges, our Churches, our party system of government, and in the "sets'" of our social life—all very harmless institutions. Indeed, thero is much of good in the gang's idea of adherence to, its own code. The troublo comes in later adolescence when, tired of boyhood's pranks, the boy- looks abroad for other fields to conquer. That motor-car prank by the kerb represents much possible fun, and often tho temptation is irresistible. In* gne of tho cases quoted above, orders were given that the youths were n.ot to leave their homes after S p.m. The Magistrate tacitly admits the failure of the homo to hold and interest tho lads. Indeed, the days of homo training are fast disappearing. , FAMILY UNITY. In our early modern European civilisation tho home was the centre of work and play, of education in manual arts, and of social and traditional ideals. With tho industrial revolution and its transfer of homo manufacture to tho factory, numerous changes were inevitable. Cities were built, tho wage system took ho place of independent handicrafts, tho'long, educative apprenticeship to a trade- disappeared. With the breaking up of homo industry, camo the disruption of family unity and parental supremacy of the child. As is usual in periods of rapid transition, many lines of degeneracy appeared. Tho costs of progress are shown in the city slum, the street gang, and the steady recurrence of waves of vice- and crime in congested areas. Tho rush, bustle, and strain of city life has undermined family solidarity which tends to disappear as tho different members, become bread-winners and scatter to different parts of the.city to work, or to different social sets for amusement. With.' tho gradual decline of the home, wo find a multitude of organisations Undertaking to fill the breach. The Boy Scout movement, the churches, tho V.M.C.A., and numerous other youth movements, have tackled the problem with varying success.. It can be safely said that no voluntary organisation of . this .sort can achieve sucoss unless it utilises that gang instinct that is so often misunderstood by tho public. If a transfer of tho virtues of the lower typo of gang loyalty, co-operation, obedience,, honour, and fellowship—can be effetced and utilised for higher purposes, then tho success of tho movement is assured. HAPPINESS WITHOUT LAWLESSNESS. Nothing .. undermines delinquency moro quickly than to substitute play of the better sort for play of tho criminal variety. This is generally recognised in America, where the tough gang problem has become a menace to society. Here professional play-supervisors have been appointed who utiliso school grounds and municipal play-area a for their work. Specially trained men, they have proved tho valuo of that gang instinct; They utiliso it by organising groups under tho typo of boy leader who is chosen by .the natural,, methods used among boys outside a school. Games are carried on with those leaders followed by their gang-like groups, held together-by gang virtues and stimulated by the intensity of gang rivalry. The supervisor allows as much democratic control as possible, serving merely as an umpire or referee, insisting only on fair play and decent conduct and preventing riotous fights. There can be no doubt that young p'eoplo are not wilfully bad so much as poorly led, and clumsy in securing happiness without lawlessness.