THE INFLUENCE OF BAD READING ON BOYS.

Clutha Leader, Volume III, Issue 147, 4 May 1877, Page 2

THE INFLUENCE OF BAD READING ON BOYS.

Mr John Macgregor writes to the Times from Blackheath : — " Under this title several paragraphs have lately appeared in your columns. The sort of boys referred to is well-known to persons who know ' Young London.' The usual ways b} r which boys are made criminals are also very well known. One of the worst of these is * bad reading.' Bo} r s must read something, and energetic boys like something ' strong.' A story of perils and adventures will do, be the thread of it ever so thin. Millions of pages of this kind are published. Many of them make robbery, defiance, and murder the core of their tale. The boys' paper I enclose (I picked it up from a crossing-sweeper in the Strand) is one ofthe least injurious of these. Even then the publishers and distributors of such papers are averse from their effect; For twenty years I have been honorary secretary of a Society which circulates more boys' periodicals than any other in the i world, yet there is not one of these I sheets which can compete with the bad pages. Why is this? Because papers of a i religious' tone or of ' moral' tendency, or of interesting news, have not the particular form and the special verve that suit the boys. During the vacation several gentlemen have anxiously considered this matter, and resolved to attempt a boys' paper, which shall have the features that attract and yet the I expression which may elevate and not debase its readers. The features are, consecutive tales, and only tales, full of vivid interest, adventure, and action, with lively woodcuts. We intend to publish as an experiment two or three spirited tales, written in strong style, and so to give the eager boy and girl | something which will rivet their attention without depraving their desires. | The effort will be made vigorously by willing hands, and I shall gladly give more particulars to those who are interested in this work and are ready to help."