YOUNG WOMEN DISCUSS TEENAGE NEEDS

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29178, 12 April 1960, Page 2

YOUNG WOMEN DISCUSS TEENAGE NEEDS

“What would attract you to a youth club?” This question was recently put to a group of Anglican girls aged from 17 to 19 who met voluntarily to discuss teenage problems with three adults, including a clergyman. The primary need, they felt, was for an organisation for debating and discussions, held in a place preferably where there were side rooms for games, such as badminton and table tennis. They agreed that when they wished to go dancing they preferred to go to a dance hall.

There was a unanimous desire to include in the club programme discussions on the Bible and religious problems. By this, they did not mean a Bible class, study group, or prayer meeting, but an opportunity to meet in an informal, friendly environment, to talk about religious matters of general interest as they applied to modern living. The question v’as then asked: “If home life were truly Christian, would such a need arise for debates and discussions of this nature?’* It was agreed-that in families which had a solid home background of Christian practice, this need for young people would not be so great Christianity Should be as much a part of the growing-up process as sleeping and eating, it was felt. “Is it possible for teenagers to understand adult problems affecting their parents?” The girls felt that adult problems could unsettle the harmony in the home but the majority of adolescents were emotionally incapable of understanding their parents’ problems. Young people could then become anxious and disturbed. This lack of understanding of parents' problems was based on their own inexperience of life, the meeting was told. Common Problem The common problem of the teen-age boy and girl was that of growing up to take a place in the world as an adult. More than anything, they needed a background of a Christian family with love and understanding shared by all member?.

“Do adults tend to over-rate teen-age problems?” The group felt that too much publicity was given to these problems which were basically the same as those

which had emerged in past gen erations.

“What is the reaction to older people sharing youth activities?" Providing adults were not members of their own families, young people did not object But it was felt that parents created a feeling of restraint by their presence and possible disrpproval. “What is the attraction of “pop' music to youth?” The exciting rhythm of rock ’n’ roll music was its main attraction for teenage boys and girls, they agreed. "It brings out the savage," one girl said. The inclination to listen to melancholy tunes was in* dicative of moods of depression. The need for constant background music reflected a desire in the life of many young people to escape from reality—to escape from facing up to “self’ in times of silence. The meeting considered the possibility of holding retreats when, secluded from any background noise, individuals would be compelled to face up themselves in silence in the presence of God. One fear expressed by one of the girls was the fear of loneliness in silence.