The Star. MONDAY, APRIL 30, 1894. Cigarettes and Shockers.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4938, 30 April 1894, Page 2

The Star. MONDAY, APRIL 30, 1894. Cigarettes and Shockers.

Three are worse boys in tbe world than the young New Zealanders, those who seem to spend a considerable part of their time in the streets, we mean. The Australian larrikin, for example, iB a more objectionable specimen cf humanity than the New Zealand variety of that offensive species, or, at all events, than the very worst of our youthful hoodlum*. Nevertheless, our boys, and many of them who would btrongly re.ent being classed as larrikins, are not free from objectionable habits, from practices which are hurtful to themselves and, in some instances, annoyiDg to their elders One of these is the habit of cigarette emoking, which prevails among children to an extent which can only be characterised as appalling. Urchins who have barely, if at all, entered their teens may be seen swaggering along the streets puffing their cigarettes with the eaße and confidence of experienced smokers, ruining their digestions — strong though these may be — stunting their growth, and, in short, making fools of themselves, under the idea that they are acting like men. Any medical man will testify to the terrible physical effects which the consumption of tobacco has upon the young and growing, but theee effects, bad though they be, aro not the whole of tbe harm which boys get from cigarette smoking. The practice leads to association with older lads, who have added to smoking, coarse language and general looaeneas of habits ; it tends to cause the victim to regard himself 'as a fine fellow, who needs no control, especially tbat of hia parents. The miserable little wretch is inclined to think himself almost a hero— a man and muoh more. The juvenile cigarette is, of course, a severe reflection on the manner in which some parents look after their children. Fathers and mothers are the proper persons to extinguish it • but, if they fail to do so, there seems to be no valid reason why the State should not interfere. In Germany there is a law dealing with juvenile smoking ; and it is worth while considering whether some such enactment is not required here. Another practice of our youngsters which is not for their good, is the reading of " penny dreadfuls," the gaudily bound, coarsely printed stories which are to be seen in suoh profusion in certain shop windows in our towns. These " shockers " not only fill the youthful mind with extravagant and utterly wrong ideas of life, but they have a tendency to foster a taste for adventures of a kind which parents would be very sorry to see their sons undergo. Such literature (save the mark) is more likely to turn boys into bandits, burglars and horse thieves than into brave, honourable, clean living and reputable men. A youthful burglar, who recently died on the gailows in Australia, attributed his downfall to the pernicious influence of bad books, arid, though perhapß be laid on them some of the blame which liia own nature should have borne, thera is no

doubt that he was. to a great extent, correct. Of course all boya like reading of an interesting, even exciting description, and there is no reason why they should not have it~in moderation, and of a healthy bind. There are the late E. M. Ballantyne's excellent stories, and hundreds of other books admirably suited for juvenile readers. The chief obstacle to their being more generally read is their price, which, low t&ough it be, is higher than that of the "dreadfuls,' 7 whioh cost only a penny or two. It would be a good thing if, provided it could be done without sweating, really healti-y works oi fiction, the older oneß at all events, could be published at very low prices and with the attractions of glaring pictorial covers, so as to beat the "shockers" on their own ground. However, this cannot be done in the colony, and the- only remedy which appears applicable here is strict supervision by parents of their children's reading, coupled with a supply, as ample as possible, of sound juvenile literature.