Modern Youth.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 September 1922, Page 4

Modern Youth.

The parent nf to-day is rather fond of tlra'wiug comparisons between his own upbringing and that of the rising generation which an by no means favourable to the latter. When he was young parental discipline was stricter, and the ordinary domestic regime was morn Spartan. In many

wavs lie had far less freedom than the modern eliild. 11 is nose was kept to the grindstone; he was sent to hod (fnrlier, and did not as a rule have his meals with the grown-ups. lie had to content himself with simpler amusements; treats were rare, and the home was supplied to provide what entertainment he required. But ail that is now changed. The modern child has .judged hy the standards of thirty or forty years ago, a rumark- ' ahly good time, lie enjoys a degree | of liberty, which, in the opinion of his grandfather, verges upon license. His amuscimeiits are entered for in a manner that would have been almost unthinkable to his forbears. He is a habitue of the picture shows, and considers the diversions of the hearth old fashioned and insipid. -Even in Ins games lie has advantages which were (ienied to the previous generation. Ilis father played cricket or football in a paddock with the most primitive material. But the son even before lie Unis reached his teens, must have the best of 'equipment an elaborate uniform .and very often a professional coach into the bargain Vet can it lie said that all these embellishments produce better players? But all round the child of to-day is subject to less restraint and has far greater privileges than the child of yesterday. \\ (■ may approve of it or not, hut there is no doubt that a profound change lias taken place. Various tilings have contributed to it. Families are much smaller than they used to Iks and as a result, parents are apt to he more indulgent. Perhaps, too, in the lighter vein wtili which they control their offspring we have traces of a reaction against the austerities of their own childhood. Bet the psycho- . analysts testify. Again facilities for j amusement outside the home have : keen multiplied and cheapened, while j one effect of the flat-life which lias he- j come so prevalent, is that the mem- i her.s of a family are almost com- i polled to go abroad in the evening. ’ If they stay at home the domestic shrine becomes uncomfortably eon- 1 gosted. j Indeed, the whole atmosphere of Australia is conducive to easy-going ways and to the relaxation of old- ; time rules and restraints in the ease of children. It has often been noted that the average English child is much better read than the average Australian child. Yet this need not be accounted unto him for especial righteousness. His virtue is to some extent at least enforced hy circumstances. The early advent of darkness in winter and the rigours of the northern climate keep him indoors in the evenings during a great part of the year. But here we have no winter worth speaking of. The Australian child perpetually hears the rail of the sunshine and the surf, and lie would hardly he human if he resisted it. Conditions of life all tend to weaken parental control in Australia, and this is reflected in a certain indiscipline which characterises the Australian people. Wo ourselves call it initiative, hut our critics prefer the harsher name. The A.1.F., no doubt, will be cited as evidence in contradiction ol this view, and no one would deny that our soldiers possessed discipline in its highest and most essential form. But it must he admitted that the ordinary Australian crowd has not that instinctive sense ;.f order which is to lie found say, in an English or an American crowd. The queue has never become a popular institution in Australia. We do not patiently wait for our turn. Tt is a ease of each for himself and devil take the hindmost, and let anyone who picstions the truth of this statement it.lenipt to buy a stamp at the G.P.O. ir enter a lift during the busy hours of lie dav. Mor- than a year ago it was leerecd that we must walk on the lcftinml side of the footpath. Hitherto nost pedestrians, blissfully indifferent o traffic regulations, had used eitheride indiscriminately. Blit no sooner iad the ukase been issued than most if the good folk of Sydney in:e se'j, rd

with a -perverse determination to keep to the right, and it still requires a posse of police to guide our steps into the paths where they should go. | Is it fantastic to a'rgite that these ; things, unimportant though they may 1 he, are symptomatic of a certain impatience of discipline. The tendency ot the age is against restraint, and of this tlie weakening of parental control to which we .have referred may be, in shine measure, a cause and, in some, all. effect. It is for this reason that ijuch movements as the Boy Scouts, ii'iicl its feminine ahalogue, the Girl Guides, are so valuable. They serve as a wholesome corrective to possible slackness, casualness and irresponsibility. They inculcate discipline in Sucli a way that the recipient is hardly aware of it. Tliey have recognised the great truth that where the interest of boys or girls is thoroughly aroused they will submit themselves to the sternest self-discipline. The ritual and the various activities of these organise-, lions are cuniiinglv devised means to a worthy end. Abstract exhortations seldom accomplish anything. Bui these movements appeal to and exploit certain tastes which every normal boy arid girl possesses, and their aim is to show that the youngster who would be a good scout of a good guide, a real master of the craft, must also be master df himself, steadfast, unselfish an-. 1 responsible, imbued with the “self-re-verence, self-knowledge, self-control; which make the corner stone of discipline.—Sydn^Paper^^^^