As both American and European studies suggest, large-city schools are increasingly responsible for the rising rate of delinquency and social maladjustment among youth. Too often urban schools encourage pupils to renounce their individual differences and submit to external controls and group pressures. Many pupils feel frustrated and agressive and may participate in delinquent gangs to maintain a nearly destroyed ego. Instrumental to the role of the school as an ego-supporting institution is the relationship between teachers and students, which can be especially constructive if the teacher himself has an adequate self-concept, is responsive, and has a positive understanding of his role despite the bureaucracy within which he must work. The school should also provide students with immediate rewards for their efforts. Success experiences might be generated by offering the student a variety of educational tasks appropriate to his needs and interests. The urban pupils' need for success might also be met through small, programed units of instruction. (LB)