In this passage, Jacob Riis highlights the precarious existence of young boys in the slums of New York City, where their desperation often drives them to peddling or begging to support their families. Riis underscores the dilemma faced by these children; intervention by authorities, such as truant officers and Children's Societies, could land them in reformatories—a setting that risks exposing them to older, more corrupt influences, fostering criminal behavior rather than rehabilitating them. The bleak outcome, as Riis suggests, is a cycle of neglect and vulnerability, leaving these boys to navigate a harsh environment alone and unprotected, inevitably leading to their transformation into "rough young savages." This passage reveals the systemic failures that trap these children in disadvantage and the social implications of their circumstances.
Use the passage from Jacob Riis's How the Other Half Lives to answer the question.
“Caught in the street by the truant officer, or by the agents of the Children’s Societies, peddling, perhaps, or begging, to help out the family resources, he runs the risk of being sent to a reformatory, where contact with vicious boys older than himself soon develop the latent possibilities for evil that lie hidden in him. . . . The risk of the reformatory is too great. What is done in the end is to let him take chances—with the chances all against him. The result is the rough young savage, familiar from the street.” – Jacob Riis
In a paragraph of 3–5 sentences, analyze what Riis is saying about the lives of young boys in New York City’s slums.
Bot GPT 4-o mini
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