Motion Picture Story Magazine (Feb-Jul 1911)

THE CITY OF BOYS 25 spite of their good homes, they chose to be tough and unruly. Out of these situations Judge Brown came to the understanding that no normal boy desires to do the wrong thing. That all boys, however they might be instructed, were following the adult life of the community in which they lived. Not because those they followed were adults, but because adults made public sentiment, and boys were but a part of the community life, and therefore attempted to act their part. A majority of the boys coming before Judge Brown in the Juvenile Court commenced their delinquent habits as they were made a part of society: First, the gang of boys with a leader, then the larger group, until, unconsciously the boys were doing things contrary to the desire of parents and teachers, but in harmony with the accepted policies and sentiment of the boyhood of the community, the Boy City in the regular city in which they lived. The purpose was to organize the boys of a community into a regular Boy City, where they could be recognized as a real part of the city life, distinct and apart from the men ; where it was recognized that boys had certain rights as well as responsibilities, and therefore it is deemed not fair to measure the acts of any boy, whether those acts be good or bad, by the standard with which we measure the acts of men. In this plan there is still the unconscious influence of the adult community and in the working out of the City of Boys to its real success, a National City of Boys at Charlevoix. Mich., was established by Judge Brown. It comprises 100 acres, where, every summer, boys live in a real City of Boys. No adults other than those who accompany groups of boys to live in the city. This "City of Boys" idea says to every boy: "You know what is square. You have been taught by mother and father, you know what is their desire for you to do. You know what religious belief they wish you to follow and you know what is right for you to do. In the Public School vou understand the purpose of study and instruction. Now we give you an opportunity to carry out all you know in a city of your own where no man or woman rules. Run your own business. Have your bank, conduct your daily paper, eat when you want and sleep when you desire. Do whatever you please, enter politics or business, play all the time if you can afford it, or work, but do everything on the square. ' ' The City of Boys is not a reformatory or a scheme of moral instruction. If a boy cannot play square he is sent home, and denied citizenship, not by adults, but by the boys themselves. A cheat, in any way, loses his citizenship. The City is for clean boys, who must meet responsibilities, who must meet temptations, who must assume responsibilities, who must grow into citizenship, and it is a place where he can test himself, where he can apphr the instruction and example he has received and where he can find himself at a period of life where habits are not fixed and where changes can be made without the overturring of a whole life as hj the case with men. It is a federation of groups of boys from various cities of the country who camp for the summer in one place. Each camp becomes a city ward, with its councilmen, who thus become a part of the city administration. It is preventive work, and educational to the highest degree. On the fun side, which largely controls a boy, the fun is at its extreme tension here. The things a boy enters on the fun side are real. The circus is a real circus, with real people paying real money to witness the marvelous feats of the show. Their games are under the direction of experts, and they have their National League playing by wards. This City of Boys is a living illustration to the boy of all the fun he ever dreamed of having, and the biggest fun any boy can have, because there is eliminated entirely the undesirable methods attending so much of the so-called fun boys have in the adult-city life, which fun makes necessary the juvenile court.