A Letter to George (Delinquent boy)
In this Episode, "A Letter to George," hosts Ben Park and Don Herbert visit a young man, George, living at the Illinois State Training School for Boys, a facility for juvenile delinquents. They interview George, his parents, and other people whose lives have intersected with George, trying to determine what led him to his current situation, "a life of delinquency and crime." The hosts and interviewees moot many theories about how he came to become a delinquent, including parental indulgence, an over-developed need to please his peers, and difficulties with authority figures. He emerges as a sensitive young man looking for guidance.
They discuss the beginnings of his criminal activity in Chicago, his time in institutions for delinquents, and his parents' moving the family from Chicago to a small town, in hopes of removing him from people and situations that contributed to his problems.
This episode was produced by the Chicago Industrial Health Association in 1949.
Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection
WNYC archives id: 150106
Municipal archives id: LT1970
