THE YOUTH RACKET

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5286, 24 December 1946, Page 3

THE YOUTH RACKET

J.

ANNAN

(To the Eclitor) , -Sir, — May I express appreeiation of '-'Hopeful's" recent letter whiah broug-ht into the limelight one of the increasing- dilemmas of the modern a-ge. To parents who had tne privilege of listening to Mr. W. G. Harwood's report at the annual prize-giving of the Rotorua Hig-ii Fchooh at \vhich he too praised this timely censure, thc\ knowledge was brough-t home, that the solving- of youth's diffic-ulties lies in their hands. 'Too long have matters of vital inierest in a child's livelihood lieen loft to the auspiees of education. Teachers can accompiish so m;ch in a lmvtter of guidance, but the environment of the child is in tne home and in the company he or -he keeps, especially is this true in reference to the teen-age g/'oup. Perhaps too, the way we rear our children from infar.ey to their majority calls for a violent revision. lf we have been over-indulgent towgrds them from early childhood how can we expect them to give us the respeet and companionship that v/ould gladdcn our hearts? We lcnow that it is better for family life where there are several child- ! ren growing up together in home, ' bat in many cases, unfortunately, not ! always i'rom a seifish point of view, j there is an only child or perhaps ■'T'vvo I whose ages are not closely allied and j these instances call for greater under- | standing and eompatibility of tem- ' perament between parent and otf- j spring. j Hopefai" tells us that youth iakes • too much ior granted. This is decided- j i ly true of young mo.ierns and one of S ' the only ways ro overcome this faii- i ing is to place responsioility 011 our ] children from an early age. By this, I j I mean that parents should give their j I children special jobs to do, towards ! j j helping in the home. We arc aware ' | j that some people over-eraphasisa i j , this point, thereby making slaves of ; | their progeny but they are in a coni- 1 I I parative mir.ority. , i In a home where there is no elec- ! ! j tricity or gas -for cooking, boys sho-'ld • j be trained to see that there is nrc-woc.d ' j ready for mother or else — no dinncr! j j Ilere father should show a good ex- | j ample. Children nearly always try | to emulate their parents. If father is ; lazy, what chance has mother with •

John or David? Then again, Marjorie should take an active part in hou.-e-hold management. In one well-discip-lined family of my acquaintance, there is a daugliter of 12 years who can cook and ciean almost as well as j her mother. This instanee probably j is r.o exception. j If I remember correctly, in my | youih, I was taught the maxim "As j a twig is .bent, so the branch vvill | grow.", How true is this! j We cannot expect children to be j honest, self-reliant, kind and g'enerj ous to others if \\ e do not show these | auributes in our own characters!! | Granted some parents can be ideal j and yet. possess children who do not j measure up to their standards. Perj haps, we forget that eacli child pos- | scsses an in Mvidttal personality. f.layi be, ihe restlessne.-s that seems so ! prououmLed antong the adolesecnt is j due primarily to the ovoirtion of the ! body at this age. We know Ihafc a | if.im»lar kind of upset generaily oeI ei rs in an adult hence '"The Naughty j Forties,'' but realising that a pert- >:i I of oiuer ycars has learnt to be di.;- | creet, the agitation of the ernotions as I • not so plainly manifested. And youi.ii ! ! is at a stage where eandour fcakes | ; precedence. Tney do not draw a;t ivon j : curtain around themselves to hi le | j their short-comings! ! Yes, we have got to learn to understand our children perhaps before we i are too ready to eriticise. "Hopeful" years that the present younger ge".eration wiil not be able to face any post-war period of tribulation should i such a crisis arrive. Indeed, we may well wonder what kind of fut'are lies in the hands of people, young or old who are eonstantly "spoon-fed" by a Socialistic regime, which aport from many of its virtues does not tend to teacli youth the spirit of economy. j namely thrift! Aiier a long period of j suppression of private ownership in favotir of state-controlled lives, what • incentive is being handed down to cur > ounger generation to gauge thc true meat'ing of democracy ? The tension caused through thc suffering of six long years of World Vv'ar II has also contributed to the slackening of discipline among our youtn. Motliers have had to bear the full weigh1 of home responsibility, carrying or. bravely, well knowing that any day 1 the possibiiity of expecting had new? regarding their men in action may have been forthcoming. Meanwhile, children oflen took advantage of their fathers' absence to become more j troublesome. Even vhen the soldiei j bread-winner did return home to civ- j ilian life, he was sometimes unwilling to co-operate in the serious business of home-making. Mention was also made in reference to the tecn-age conception of I chu/'ch attendance being considered "soft." How many parents show them a good example? Generaily, it has been the case of sending their children to Ghurch services in order to get them out of the way, especially when they are at the young "rowdy" period, so that mother could indulge in an afternoon siesta or father in his game of bowls. No wonder Sunday School attendance rolls seem to outnumber Church congregations! In eonclusion I would commend' the Rotorua Hig'h School's deeision to re-organise the Parents' Associatlon. Perhaps, through the combination of teachers with parents at these meetings, we may realise better what progress- is being made towards the educational and social better ment of our youth. — I am etc.,