On June 1, 1885 talking to the Turin Cooperators, Don Bosco said:

In this day and age, the wicked are trying to scatter the seeds of godlessness and bad

morals; they are trying especially to ruin imprudent youths through associations, printed

publications, meetings which aim, more or less openly, at keeping youth away from

religion, Church and good morals.718

To reach the hearts and the wallets of his well -to -do listeners, Don Bosco did not hesitate to project, at

times, the likely danger that abandoned youths were as vagabonds, purse -snatchers or even criminal s who perhaps one day might show up “begging for money with a knife at their throats or a pistol in their hands”.719

2. Elements of youth psychology

To understand Don Bosco's preventive system we should also keep in mind the following items, the age bracket of the young people he dealt with and to whom the preventive system was preferably applied, under his immediate or mediated direction; the age of the boys frequenting the Festive Oratories in Turin and the complex institution that was Valdocco's Oratory; the age of those attending the boarding schools at Mirabello Monferrato, later transferred to Borgo San Martino, Lanzo Torinese, Alassio and Varazze, Genoa-Sampierdarena, Nice and Marseilles.

2.1 Growing up

As a rule, in the majority of the works Don Bosco founded, the prevailing interest was in teenagers, a more extended age group for festive oratories, schools and boarding schools, including those in the final years of adolescence. Exceptions were made even during Don Bosco's lifetime for students in the boarding schools at Alassio and Valsalice, as well as the pre-university institution set up by Fr Lasagna at Villa Colon (Montevideo).

The age range, in reference to young working boys was much wider and less strictly defined.720 So summing up, Don Bosco's p edagogy is a youth -oriented pedagogy where the terms 'young', 'youth' are

given a rather wide connotation. But in overall numbers and attention, they were mostly teenagers. It is

for boys of the 15 -16 year -old bracket that Don Bosco wrote 'Lives' or biogra phical stories of boys, which were one of the basic tools Don Bosco used to pass on his educational experience and

pedagogical reflections.

721

The following norm, generally put into practice, is found in the 'Rules for day students':

We are looking for eig ht -year -olds, so smaller boys are excluded, along with those who

718BS 9 (1885) no. 7 July, p. 95.

719Cf letter to Dr. Carranza, Buenos Aires, 30 Sept 1877,E III 221; converence to Copperators in Lucca, 8 April 1882, BS

6 (1882) no. 5, May, p. 81; address to the Catholic Association in Barcelona, 15 April 1886, C. Viglietti, Cronaca dal 15

aprile al 16 maggio 1886, p. 5

720At the Oratory at Valdocco, the average age of students was 13-14, working boys, 14-15; cf P. Stella Don Bosco nella

storia economica...

721What Albert Caviglia writes, however, is excessive: “Most pedagogues and educational writers turned their attention to

children between 6 and 12 years ofage. The problem of progress was the primary, elementary schools (as well as

kindergarten, the Aporti case); In Italy they were way behind. Now what Our man was concerned about and acted on

behalf of, those he called 'youth', 'young lads', are not children but precisely those who worked with, from 12 years on...

This was another of Don Bosco's great merits, in having found, literally, the right way to educate teenagers”. (A.

Caviglia, La «Storia d'Italia» a masterpiece by Don Bosco. Introductory address, in Opere e scritti editi e inediti di

«Don Bosco», vol III La Storia d'Italia. Turin SEI 1935, pp. XLII-XLIII); «Don Bosco anche letterariamente ha risolto

il problema della pedagogia dell'adolescente» (p. XLIV).