ABSTRACT
The households of Pruitt-lgoe have, on the average, a larger number of children than most American families. Adult interest in and interaction with children declines rather sharply as they move toward the school years. At this age children begin to learn the lesson of "go for yourself". The problem of control becomes paramount as children enter the school years. Isolating the child from the outside world is a technique most appropriate for young children. When parents have given up trying to isolate their children, they resort to detailing cautionary horror stories in an attempt to reason with the child and influence him to control his own participation in the dangerous outside world. The child's perspective may develop in a direction radically different from his parents'; the adults see the world as unremittingly dangerous, while the children perceive it as offering many opportunities that make courting of danger worthwhile, especially because danger is unavoidable.
