The problem of juvenile offenders is more acute in Porto Rico than in the United States, due to the fact that there are more opportunities open in Porto Rico for juvenile offenders than are to be found, possibly with the exception of the largest cities, in the United States. The early physical development of the tropics adds to the difficulties of the situation, and also the temptations that surround homeless children even at a comparatively early age. In addition to this, we have many instances of consensual marriages, which offer a temptation to even the very young to lower the standards of morality and to become careless regarding the marriage relation. The large number of poverty-stricken and homeless undoubtedly contributes a great deal to physical as well as mental and moral degeneration, and the combination of these factors may perhaps account for the large number of weak-minded and insane that we find at large in the majority of the towns of the Island. In addition, promiscuous sexual relations undoubtedly contribute to this degeneracy, and if active steps are not taken to prepare these homeless children for better living and to enable them to earn an honest living, they will serve as the propagators of another generation of equally homeless, pauperized, and degenerate citizens. RURAL SCHOOLS ONE of the most perplexing problems which the Department of Education has to face in Porto Rico is the problem of the rural schools. In addition to a school budget too small to provide the number of rural schools necessary for all of the children of school age, there are added difficulties in the way of poverty and sickness among the country people which lead to irregular attendance on the part of the children, poor roads, and the keeping of children out of school in order to help earn money to support the family, especially in districts where child labor may be used profitably; and above all these difficulties is the great difficulty of furnishing the rural schools with teachers who are adequately trained and who have a comprehensive view of their mission as teachers and of the duty of the school to the community in which it is located.