"with no steady hand to guide him, the boy
takes naturally to idle ways. caught in the
street by the truant officer, or by the agents of
the children's societies, peddling, perhaps,
or begging, to 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
city has no truant home in which to keep
him, and all efforts of the children's friends to
enforce school attendance are paralyzed by
this want. the risk of the reformatory is too
great." - jacob riis
in a paragraph of 3-5 sentences, interpret the
passage in your own words.