YOUTH PROBLEMS

Evening Star, Issue 25941, 5 November 1946, Page 4

YOUTH PROBLEMS

IMPORTANCE OF DISCUSSIONS

ADDRESS BY DR BREW

“ In Russia youth has a sentimental value, in Germany a propaganda value, and in England a nuisance value. I am not sure about New Zealand, but 1 have my suspicions,” said Dr Josephine M. Brew in an address on ‘ Democracy and Youth Service ’ in the Y.W.C.A. hall last night. Dr Brew, who is visiting New Zealand at the invitation of the New Education Fellowship, is national secretary of girls’ clubs and mixed clubs in Great Britain.

The Mayor, Mr D- C. Cameron, welcomed Dr Brew to Dunedin, and said that the youth of to-day would play an important part in guiding the destiny of the races of the South Pacific when they became the leaders of’ tomorrow. Mr E. Partridge presided and introduced the speaker. Parents went to great lengths to give their young children security and teach them independence, said Dr Brew, but there was an even greater need to provide the right atmosphere for adolescents to grow into _ useful adults. Adolescence was a time of emotional “ staggers,” similar in many ways to the physical staggers of a baby learning to walk. Adolescents must be given opportunities for meeting, discussing their problems, and learning how to become leaders.

The machine age, said the, speaker, meant an increase in the number of unskilled and semi-skilled workers in the world. As more and more people were engaged in duller and more monotonous jobs, the need for making better use of their leisure became more apparent. People in dull jobs, too, should have the best working conditions to compensate them and revitalise their personalities. There was such a thing as job snobbery, said Dr Brew, which made many young people feel that they were not doing very vital or important work. Crowded living conditions, with no proper facilities for social activities, too, tended to make life difficult for them. It was important to provide meeting places for such young people, where they had stimulating contact with others of their own social standing. One of the first objects: of youth work should be to give ypung men and women an opportunity of meeting to-, getlier, learning to choose their leaders intelligently, learning to follow intelligently, and knowing when to stop intelligently. This was the basis of a sound, democracy.