DOMINION’S YOUTH

Hokitika Guardian, 16 June 1932, Page 2

DOMINION’S YOUTH

PROBLEAI OF UNEMPLOYMENT DLL)ELUSION OF EXPECTATIONS During the last feAV years our leadei .-> ii„ ,o ~ecii so muai luho;jiku "»*-*» Lin: an.. uni.*miiig Lite *-nvi--7.1,11 111 0.1I 1 11-111..*. piOulclUS 11,1 , „ ..i.vl vO UO 1 CCU Lo L.*c* IJilCivc io..li„. VJ.lt; Ul UW 111 0 t -cute >-l hi.. ac i., L.iii t oi juvenile employu.eiu, amt ilmre us an • urge *or mu uuuin-im-iii ui gi.e a leau in i.iis grave.piolo.ii ot n..t.oiial economy; it is to oe nopal tiou tuc.V "ill encourage in. ..c .-ioie ivioeuu.i metnotU ol meeting urn siuiauoii, to direct and co-ordinate um t —oi.a cr such bodies a* etlucauo.i oOar-.0, laooiir bureaux, Go.erniii.ii, u.p.u iinents, ciiuinbcrs of commerce, industrial organisation, churefi and cO.ial organ.cations, towards uimlio.ating the sad results ol an economic situation upon a group of tlie community largely uncapabie ol expressing their sufferings.

Ine UnteintLS engendered in th~ minds of adults by unemployment is a regie table fact; yet the mute distress oi the youths and girls who are lea\ ing school full of the keenness and ambition of youth, and leady to ofler their services in the industrial and professional life of tlie community, lo find that, despite their eager efiOrt'j to find avenues lor the employment of such abilities as they may possess, is met Avith the cold reception, “AYe have no employment for you,” is tragic, To the young mind, facing the world for the first time, the disillusionment of their expectations must, and has, produced a bitter feeling of resentment against the Avhole' order of things, Avhich is mere tragic and more serious in its consequences than the bitterness of the -adult unemployed. This turning aside of the spontaneous offers of our hoys and girlS is generating a resentment against society, that must sink deeply into their minds and produce an attitude inimical to the development of the ideal* of goods citizenship and provide fertile ground for the groAvth of anti-social views among out future citizens.

The appeal, then, is for a fuller realisation of the seriousness of the problem, and the need for all, capable of rendering such service, to hold out a helping hand to tide them over an anxious period, in a manner that Aviil fit them better for ultimate service to the community. In brief, the urge i? that their education, in the broadest sense Aviil he continued on sound lines. If these sound lines of education or guidance are not provided, then their education will inevitably be continued along unbound lines sub\ r ersive of the best interests Loth of our youth and of the community.