Hearsay Behind Lurid View of School Morals

From The Indianapolis Times, Thursday, January 20, 1921: Lurid pictures of revolting moral conditions in Indianapolis high schools were painted by Rev. Thomas Grafton, pastor of Third Christian Church, yesterday at a meeting of the Oliver P. Morton School Mothers’ Club and P.T.A. “I am told a patrolman, whose beat is in the neighborhood of Shortridge High School, has been supplying liquor to students…Sexual immorality is a serious problem in our high schools, and modern dancing, such as was recently banned at Shortridge, only leads to the things of which I complain,” he asserted. While Rev. Grafton had no first-hand information of these terrible conditions, he believed what he had heard from others was truthful and suggested, as a remedy, Bible study and religious instruction in the public schools be made compulsory upon the pupil if the parents so elected.