So what is this “Hookey Club” I’ve been trying to get too all week? Granted the only thing special about it is that it’s the last thing to discuss with this chapter and I’ve been trying to get over with it. But when he claims something I used as a refuge from bullying causes bullying I’ve to got try even harder to be fair. I know he means well and he deals with a lot of troubled (not necessarily bad or criminal) kids all day, but I keep feeling like he’s searching for an easy answer. Could a kid of weaker conscience be influenced by something he or she sees? There’s plenty of evidence of that, although it was usually something they shouldn’t see or they were already a little on the crazy psycho side. But it sounds like, even though he uses the word “influence” he’s saying comics cause these kids to pursue these actions and I’m going to take offense to that. Remember, this man is saying that Superman will drive kids to perform criminal acts.

So….the Hookey Club. After the second World War Wertham came up with the idea of a meeting place for delinquents and predelinquents. And no, I don’t know how you determine what a predelinquent is. Even spell check doesn’t know what that is. This group was affectionately called the Hookey Club one time and the name stuck, truancy being a big issue with this group. It’s actually a good idea. So let’s check his findings with what we as comic fans know comics to be.  Here’s the link once again to this chapter so you can follow along.

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