A Way of Preventing Crime
"Through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through." -- Ecc. 10:18
Eighty percent of the offences against society are committed in the free hours between six and twelve o’clock P.M., and over forty-five percent of juvenile delinquency occurs on Saturday and Sunday." So reports the secretary of an association organized for crime prevention.
This is an awakening fact. It was awakening to me for the reason that, as a minister, I am responsible for engaging the leisure hours of a good many people, on week evenings as well as on Sundays. It has awakened in my mind a new sense of my responsibility in this connection. It ought to have the same awakening effect upon everyone who has it in his power to direct or influence the leisure hours of the people around him, especially if they are young people.
I was talking recently with a man who employs a large number of young men, and he told me that it had been his practice for a number of years to call those young men together everyday for a short conference, and that he had made it a special point in these conferences to advise them concerning the use of their spare time. In this direction lies an opportunity for every employer to influence tremendously the future of the nation. In different ways the same opportunity is open to many others, as well as employers.
The trouble is, too few of us realize our individual responsibility in this mater. We see at once the significance of the report referred to, but we sit back and wait for some organization to come along with ways and means to remedy the situation it brings to our attention. There is too much of a tendency to transfer to organizations our responsibility in matters of this kind. If everyone who is in a position to help remedy the situation under consideration would make it a matter of personal
concern and effort, it would mean more than we could expect from any number of organizations.
