Life — March 14, 1918 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis: "Concerning the Waywardness of Children" This page addresses child misbehavior in early 20th-century America. The article's epigraph blames "sensational moving pictures, dime novels or cigarette smoking" for corrupting youth—reflecting contemporary moral panic about new mass media. The poem by Kenneth L. Roberts contrasts historical waywardness (Babylon, medieval London, Renaissance France) with modern American children, suggesting misbehavior is timeless, not uniquely caused by modern influences. The illustration by Will Harman depicts children playing war—one child says he's a "wounded soldier" who needs grape juice and medical care. This satirizes how children absorb and dramatize current events (likely WWI) through play, supporting the article's argument that childhood mischief predates modern corrupting influences.