UNEMPLOYED BOYS

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 69, 15 December 1931, Page 8

UNEMPLOYED BOYS

Holiday Farm Camp SEVENTY ENROLLED* More Help Necessary Since enrolment began a fortnight ago, 70 boys have made application and have been accepted for the agricultural training and holiday camp to be held during January at Penrose, Masterton, under the auspices of the 'Wellington Y.M.C.A., in conjunction with the Rotary Club and the Department of Agriculture. Provision will be made at the camp for 150 boys. It will open on December 29 and will come to an end on January 30. Of the 70 boys now enrolled, the average age is 15 and the average period of unemployment 8i months. The fathers of 25 of the boys are unemployed also, and 25 per cent, of the boys have no boots suitable for going to camp. . “Generally speaking,” said a Y.M.C.A. official yesterday, “it would seem that the boys are of a type more suitable for rural or manual employment The medical examination of the boys has been carried out by Dr. Montgomery Spencer and Dr. Arnold Izard. On the whole the physique of the boys is good, and only one has been rejected as a result of the medical report There has been a generous response to our

appeal for boots, and one firm has promised to fit out a number of the lads.

"With regard to the camp itself, arrangements are well on the way. It is realised by the Agricultural Department that the one big problem from its point of view will be to bring the technical lectures down to the mental level and limited experience of the boys, and to make the practical demonstrations sufficiently extensive and comprehensive to provide actual physical exertion on the part of such a large number of boys. The officers of the department are confident that this can be done. Experience, therefore, involving activity on the part of the boys, will be given in milking, fencing, concreting and the use and manipulation of tools and Implements. “Mr. McCulloch, Field Supervisor, Department of Agriculture, Palmerston North, has charge of the department’s arrangements, and Mr. Connell has been appointed resident officer. Interest in Scheme. “The committee, at a recent meeting, reaffirmed Its previous decision to take only those boys who are In actual need of such an experience and who, following the camp, will be prepared to undertake farm work. Many leading citizens have intimated that they will watch this experiment with the keenest interest and feel that it is one practical step in the direction of relieving boy unemployment In the cities. The national Y.M.C.A. is providing free of charge a six-valve radio set, a cinema machine and films. The boys will go Into camp on December 29, and the official opening and public day will take place on January 6. “The response to the appeal for assistance for the camp has been encouraging. We need £3OO, however, and have received £73 to date, as well as promises of goods In kind. We are asking the public to provide for the keep of the boys at the rate of £2 a boy, and we don’t want to be in such a position that we shall have to turn any boys away.” PROBLEM ACCENTUATED Distressful Consequences ■ <fAt the last meeting of the Y.M.C.A. Rotary Boys’ Unemployment Committee It was resolved to communicate the following resolution to the Minister of Education:— “That this joint committee on boy unemployment, representing the boards of directors of the Y.M.C.A. and the Rotary Club of Wellington, urges upon the' Government to convene at the earliest date the proposed conference to consider the after-school occupations of our youths. The distressful consequences of youth unemployment manifest during recent months are being accentuated, by the inclusion among the workless of boys and girls now leaving secondary and primary schools on completion of the school year. This calls for urgent consideration’ by the conference.”