THE WASTED YEARS

by Jess Stearn ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Another reporter (New York) reporting in on juvenile delinquency, ""a state of mind"" but also a ""communicable disease""-its rapid rise and increasing incidence from year to year. While, as one Judge asked- ""Don't any of these children have fathers?"", certainly the absence of parental authority has much to do with its spread; so does the breakdown of discipline in the schools and here the progressive philosophy is held responsible. Stearn, in using a number of fairly recent cases (the Michael Farmer case, for instance) to show how the violence of the streets is expressed in anything from vandalism to murder, has also obtained a good deal of material from this city's Youth Board; statistics-75% of the mothers- 85% of the fathers have failed their boys, while 60% are unaware of their children's problems; and also some demonstrations of the Youth Board at work with some success in handling a serious menace.... If a choice is to be made between this- and the O'Connor book reviewed above- this is probably a fuller picture.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1959

Categories: NONFICTION