More action on youth problems urged

Press, 31 January 1984, Page 3

More action on youth problems urged

PA Wellington Solving the problems faced by young people should be a top priority for all members of the community in the lead-up to this year’s General Election and during International Youth Year in 1985, said the president of the National Youth Council, Ms Sue Bond, yesterday. “Young people are New Zealand’s most important untapped resource, yet today thousands of schoolleavers and others are being

denied the chance to participate fully in society because of unemployment, underemployment and other factors,” she said.

While many organisations were already working hard to provide meaningful experience and support for New Zealand’s youth, this work often went unrecognised and unsupported by the rest of the community.

Ms Bond urged service clubs, local bodies, and industry to join the Government and

voluntary agencies in providing resources for youth work. “Surely it makes sense to do this now, in the interests of healthy development, rather than wait until young people have become alienated from society, with consequent drain on our wealth through the justice and welfare systems. To ensure full participation and development of all young people should be a major objective of New Zealand in the next two years,” Ms Bond said.