The Scheme of Things

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 26, 30 July 1938, Page 19

The Scheme of Things

, By M.H.G. i

:f- ■•■/■■■•-.. ■■■ ■J At present it seems as if a leading in the world is that of amuse--rhent. .Not that there is not a plethora iof - amusing things to do,' and of kinds -to suit most people's tastes, it would jseem. For instance, the art of daneJng. has spread enormously. Whereas years ago the older people certainly went to dances, they went as onJookers, taking, their young people to -have .all the fun, and yawning largely the time went on and supper was over, thankful when it was time to go jhome. But now the age for joining in the dance has gone up v considerably, and a this is all to the good, for it is far .better to, see everyone enjoying the bright music, the good floors, and all 4he various; attractions contained in

dancing, than to. see weary faces such as used to prevail where the older people were concerned. Now there is a; great increase in older women certainly who play croquet and spend happy summers interested in the game. IBridge, of course, claims an immense %iimber of people both young arid folder, while the more exciting poker -belongs, to all ages. Then the newer /games (so far as this generation is concerned) are legion, and picture houses here, there; and everywhere, with fall sorts of entertainment offered— %oody bad, and indifferent. Summer and winter sports abound, and, indeed, it is difficult to thihlf or hear of any time "in the world when amusements were /"so many or so absorbing. - • *:■■.■■.■■..■» '■»; • . •

"Arid yet there are both men and ;women who know and say that there is, a great need for happy ways of the leisure which is so much -more in evidence than it used to be. Tor there are many, particularly among "the young people, who haye so far no reasonable arrangements made for ~jhem by the older and better-off people lor the employment of leisure happily jand attractively. A recent speaker, a man of experience, is sure that hobbies, jban be made to play, a most useful part in absorbing the leisure of those who jyaste time and. <the very small amount jbf money they possess in various unfortunate ways. A well-known body jpf, women also came to the same conclusion recently. "But," as one speaker "you have got to make them see .that good hobbies are much better rthan straying about the streets and getting into various kinds of mischief bring a number within the reach of the law and start them on a downward path from wh^ch it is most difficult to emerge." It looks as if the first of all amusement halls in different districts be started: for the winter, and with voluntary "staffing, and a reasonable amount of contributed money from'the authorities ;for the sake of ihe young people, these could be made -known soon as "open doors" for all liked'to come in, where there would be warmth; a welcome, and amusements of various kinds. Cheap refreshments could be added, and it Seems quite a hopeful- idea to make come effort to stem the troubles which s>eset this and many other cities at $his time. 1; • • » • | .This kind of thing has been done successfully, in this .city;,,before,, and from what c^n. be .about, the work if the Church Army, • the Salvation &rmy, and many other institutions in Ihe Old Country, an intrnense amount Jbf help is given to young people. The Recent speaker referred .to developed Jhe idea of the pleasure and dignity of jjwork, and-regretted, as db many others, £hat its power for" pleasure has boen called in question of late years. He urged rightly-that the joy of achievement is a wonderful one. That something, successfully made, even in the JJiumblest way, can give pleasure. For jboys to make good models of whatever their fancy may be, yachts, aeroplanes, wireless,, or many other k t

things, gives them some idea of the pleasure of recreational work, and in such institutions as have been mentioned these could be suggested and superintended by voluntary, workers, and probably take many a mind off idle mischief which is there just because there is no knowledge of anything else. For girls the. same pleasure could be obtained, in making model frocks or hats, learning to plan out beautiful things in the way of needlework, and people only need to look at the work done by the children to know that there is a wonderful field Spr extension among those who are older; ■.■■■»■ *■'..■• • *

Those who have worked among the

adolescents;and younger boys and'girls have had the experience that they\ are very approachable if it is done in the right way. Anything approaching a "pi-j aw" is abhorrent and must be avoided; it is necessary for older people to rid themselves at once of the idea that they can gain any sort, of; success with'the young ones if they want to "take them in hand" on the same lines that existed in the. "days of ihejir own youth; Those days have £on;e, and many in looking back.realise-that they were hindered in early development of talent and culture by lack of

understanding and encouragement by the older folk.

If it is once realised by a large number of people in New Zealand that so many of the things which are plainly lamentable are largely due to ill-spent leisure, it surely will lead to combined efforts to provide something attractive and helpful to those young people whose homes are lamentably small, or inefficient on account of bad parentage. \There is plenty of regret expressed about the unfortunate happenings of the day, but it is only necessary to hear even one story from a man who made a great effort to institute decent amusements in a Public Works Department camp to know how eagerly they were taken up, first of all by those who were' really interested, and later by those who came in happily after seeing the fun the others got out of life when they took up really good and healthy amusements. It is "just a little straw that shows the

way the wind blows," and a more sustained effort was made for years by the Community Club in' this city, which never failed in its object to gather the boys and young men togethe«pnd provide decent amusement for them. There are probably plenty of girls who are just as much in need of good amusements, but they are not so obvious as are the boys. The whole question of the happy and profitable employment of leisure wants consideration by all, New Zealand people who care for the well-being of the younger generation.