The most active time of life is early adolescence. At this age, the normal boy has finished one stage in his development, and is resting before he enters upon the next. He has weathered the storms of childhood. He has completed some of the most difficult portions of the growth process, and has salted down his gains. Between eight years of age and twelve, lies a period of extraordinary toughness and resilience, when the boy can eat anything and do anything. He is simply one bundle of prodigious energy, which he must explode, and which he generally insists on exploding in his own way. The gang, naturally, becomes the chief outlet for his activities. Sheldon, in his study of 851 boys who were members of gangs, found that the purposes of these spontaneous societies were:-- Athletics 61%. Migration, building, hunting, fighting, and preying 17 Industrial work 8½ Or to sum up, associations for purposes involving physical activity comprised 86½ While associations for social, secret and literary purposes comprised only 13½ My own more detailed study of sixty-six gangs reveals the following group activities:-- Group games,--baseball, football, basketball, hockey, etc. 53 gangs or 80% Tribal industries,--hunting, fishing, boating, building huts, going about in the woods, playing Indians, etc. 49 74 Predatory activities,--stealing, injuring property, etc. 49 74 Fighting 46 70 Swimming 45 68 Migrations 44 67 “Plaguing people” 44 67 Going to theatres 38 58 Running-games,--relievo, chase, tag, etc. 31 47 Smoking 50 45 Playing cards 25 38 Skating 20 50 Sliding 12 18 Drinking 9 11