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Harry Baker was 11 years old when his mother appealed to a child guidance agency for help in handling him. That first appeal did not lead to the opening of his case, however. In fact, the youngster was to observe two more birthdays before he acquired a case number and began building up a voluminous record of problems and progress.
In her first telephone call to the agency, his mother reported that Harry was losing interest in school. Up to then, his marks had been among the highest in his class. The boy was also becoming very depressed and irritable.
Mrs. Baker explained that she was a widow and spent a part of each day in her aged parents' home caring for them. Her daily absence from her own home greatly upset Harry, who told her that he'd rather be with her than play with other children. And, his mother had observed that the few children he did play with were younger than himself.
[Harry appeared to be withdrawing, to be losing contact with his peers, and reverting to the behavior of a much younger child. He seemed to be unwinding all his life ties except those binding him to his mother.]
Mrs. Baker was puzzled and worried. Could the agency assign one of its volunteer workers, one of the laymen who had come to be known as “Big Brothers,” to give her fatherless boy the male companionship and guidance he seemed to need?
Harry's mother broke the first appointment made for her to