USE OF LEISURE

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22464, 27 July 1938, Page 6

USE OF LEISURE

Facilities To Be Surveyed

DECISION REACHED BY CONFERENCE “That this meeting agrees that it has become necessary to have some organised effort to secure a more profitable use of the leisure time of our young citizens; and that a subcommittee be appointed to survey the existing facilities for the profitable use of leisure and to report back on means of getting fuller use of the present facilities or for providing further organisation.” This motion was carried unanimously last night by a conference convened by the Christchurch Technical College Board of Governors to discuss the use of leisure in New Zealand. The conference was attended by about 40 persons representative of social welfare organisations, educational institutions, local bodies, business interests, and associations generally interested in providing methods of employing leisure. The chairman of the Technical College Board of Governors (Mr T. W. West), who presided, explained that the calling of the conference was not a move to create interest in the college, for it now had all the pupils it could accommodate. Recent legislation, however, had brought into prominence the matter of the proper use of leisure. He did not think the Government intended, when it introduced the 40hour week, that workers should just idle away their spare’ time. Accordingly he felt it was the duty of all interested in the welfare of the young and old in the community to discuss the important question of leisure. “Intellectually Lazy” The principal of the college (Dr. D E. Hansen) remarked that New Zealanders had been described as intelligent people, but intellectually lazy, and that seemed to him to be a good description. If the gap between boyhood and manhood could be bridged and young people given the stimulus to-carry on their education, a good deal would be done to solve the problem under discussion. It seemed to him that there were too many young men who obviously did not know what to do with themselves in their spare time. Dr. H. E. Field, Professor of Education at Canterbury University College, said that one of the first things to be done in tackling such a problem was to make a survey of the existing facilities for the constructive use of leisure. The meeting should ascertain what facilities existed and what use was made of them. Statistics to indicate the use of leisure by young people were quoted by Mr N. S. Woods, of the Christchurch Youth Centre, which directs vocational guidance activities in the city, Mr Woods said he had obtained a typical sample by taking the cases of 62 boys and 44.girls whom he had interviewed during three ( months. The clear inference in many of these cases was that there was a passive, unenterprising and unintellectual approach to living. A big problem, in his opinion, was to overcome mental inertia. Encouragement Difficult Support for Mr Woods's claim that mental inertia had to be overcome was given by Miss P- Hindle, representing the Christchurch Young Women’s Christian Association. The association provided many opportunities for the use of leisure, but it was difficult to encourage girls to take these opportunities. A survey of facilities and their use should certainly be made. “It is unassailable that there are very many boys and girls without hobbies and without any constructive use for their leisure time,” said Mr G. M. Keys, of the Christchurch Youth Centre. “On the other hand there are a great many opportunities for the use of this leisure. How qre we to link the one with the other? If we can decide why this inertia exists —and, believe me, it does exist —then we are going to solve our problem.” After a discussion of nearly three hours the conference passed the resolution to make a survey of the existing facilities for the use of leisure, and set up a sub-committee to make this investigation. This sub-committee will consist of the following:—Messrs West, Woods, Keys, G, Manning W. B. Harris, D. E. Parton, H. Henderson, and C. W. Allard, Sir Robert Clark-Hall, Dr. Field, Dr. Hansen, Dr, G. Jobberns, Miss Hindle. Miss J. I, Stewart, and Miss C. E. Robinson.