More Study Of Youth Sought

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31982, 8 May 1969, Page 16

More Study Of Youth Sought

The only time the community cared about its unattached youth was when violence flared or someone broke into a dance, said the president of the Canterbury Youth Council (Mr R. Consedine) last evening.

It was time that the local authorities paid attention to this problem by appointing full-time workers who were young and properly trained. The problems of the unattached young were now too big for just a few people to deal with, Mr Consedine said. The people on the youth council had, like himself, jobs to do for eight hours of the day, and activities of their own at other times. Mr Consedine was address-

ing the monthly meeting of the youth council. The Christchurch youth activities officer for the Internal Affairs Department, Mr L. Coughlan, said that Mr Consedine was one of the first leaders in the community to say something about this problem. Many groups had tried to do something about it and had failed.

All the good will and money in the world would not solve the problem, Mr Coughlan

said. Persons who knew what they were doing were needed. One business group had tried to start a club and had thought that all that was necessary was to hire a hall and put people in it. Groups of trained staff at the universities and training colleges were only too interested to do some research into the problem. Mr Coughlan quoted Mr D. Weils, the national Director of Physical Education as saying that there were not three people in New Zealand who knew about delinquency. Something would have to be done to find out why these people were bored and smashed windows or gatecrashed dances, Mr Coughlan said. Mr Consedine and Miss P. Byrne, a representative of the Young Christian Workers had been chosen to go to the World Assembly of Youth at Liege, Belgium, during August, it was announced. Six New Zealanders will attend the assembly from August 18 to 26 to represent the National Youth Council of New Zealand.

Many students who had been involved in rioting at universities throughout the world would attend, said Mr Consedine.

A family life booklet with cartoons was nearing completion and it was hoped’to distribute it to every home in Christchurch where there were teen-agers, he said. Some of the opinions expressed would probably cause controversy.

The Council decided that a representative of the Christchurch Savings Committee be invited to explain the aims of the committee. Other items discussed included the possibility of joining Volunteer Service Abroad and the planning of a weekend at the Youth Hostel Hut at Lake Tekapo with the Otago Youth Council. It was felt that this was a good way of getting to know youth groups in other parts of the country, especially as it was felt that the National Youth Council did not really represent the feelings of its constituents.