Jaycees emphasise social skills

Press, 17 October 1987, Page 9

Jaycees emphasise social skills

The New Zealand Jaycee network continued to provide the personal skills required for an increasingly complex society, said the national Jaycee president, Mr Jim Wiles, of Te Puke, in Christchurch yesterday. But Jaycee chapters also faced the challenge of reaching those New Zealanders who would benefit from a sense of fellowship and self-worth, Mr Wiles said. He is attending the national Jaycee conference in Christchurch, a forum attended by 600 Jaycees. The Jaycee organisation was not simply a service club. Its four tenets put emphasis on encouraging and educating members to develop skills in leadership and organisation and a personal selif-confid-ence.

“We educate members to develop various abilities through the work and activities within the individual chapters.” Those abilities could be

extended to family life and work. Many past and present Jaycees put these skills to use in local authorities, politics, and community life.

“Jaycees are not involved in making handouts. We concentrate, for exaihple, on encouraging a sense of service to the family. Leadership skills are definitely required to

lead a family unit and home,” he said. “I think that Jaycees will always concentrate on these aspects of fellowship and leadership. How the organisation markets itself will probably change during the next decade but the central feature of providing young New Zealanders with the confidence to express and present themselves will always apply.” Jaycee chapters had to meet the challenge of reaching the young people who urgently needed those skills.

“All organisations face problems in attracting members. The social and economic environment means that individuals are questioning how they should spend their dollars. For many, joining groups like the Jaycees is a question of priorities.”

Mr Wiles said the national organisation provided the skeleton but how this was fleshed out was up to the individual chapters.