Book excerpt: Excerpt from Public Dance Halls: Their Regulation and Place in the Recreation of Adolescents Regulations in respect to the age of persons admitted to public dances and public dance halls have been adopted by 142 of the cities reporting to the Children's Bureau. Seventeen cities prohibit the admission of those under a stipulated age, although 7 of these apply only after 9 p. M.; 83 prohibit persons under stated ages attending dance halls unaccompanied; 1 prohibits the attendance of those under 16 and requires persons 16 and 17 to be accompanied; and 41 require persons under a certain age to be accompanied after a specified hour. The regulations requiring that persons under a given age be aecom panied generally specify the parent or guardian, but the various ordinances differ slightly in this respect. In'certain localities it is sufficient if the minor is with an escort or older person; in others it is necessary that the parent or guardian give written consent to the attendance of the minor with his particular companion. A few cities make a distinction in the minimum age of attendance for girls and for boys. The age restrictions apply to admission or attendance at the dancing place or the dance, whichever is covered by the ordinance, but no distinction between these has been made in this section. State laws relating to minimum age of persons attending, or taking part in public dances affect 165 cities not included in the preceding summary - 16 in Connecticut, 36 in Massachusetts, 2 in Minnesota, 33 in New York, 1 in North Dakota, 21 in Ohio, 22 in Pennsylvania, 6 in Rhode Island, and 28 in New Jersey. Under 21 years - According to data at hand no city ordinance specifically prohibits all persons under 21 years from attending or taking part in public dancing. Walla Walla, Wash, however, makes it unlawful for boys under 21 years to attend or be present at a public dance unless accompanied by parent or legal guardian. Denver, Colo., requires a keeper or proprietor of a public dance hall'to keep a register containing the name and address of every person actually or apparently under 21 years who attends, the date of such attend ance, and the name and address of the male escort of all females under 21 years admitted. The inspector of amusements may require such persons to Sign their names and addresses in the register before being permitted to enter the dance hall. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.