TRAINING OF YOUTHS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 94, 4 April 1934, Page 4

TRAINING OF YOUTHS

Attraction to Club Life CHOOSING OF RIGHT PATHS A stimulus to the movement in north England to keep youths from street corners by attracting them to club life h:w been provided by a three days’ tour of boys’ clubs by the Duke of Gloucester, third son of King George.

Addressing representatives of municipal and social work at Manchester the Duke stressed the importance of earing for youths between the ages of 11 and 18. "I urge employers,” he said, “and everyone that is in a position which keeps him in touch with tho younger generation, to do everv thing possible to make this period of adolescence a time of fruition and development, and not of stagnation. ‘‘Club life attracts the boy during precisely those years of which I have spoken. Finding it first a pleasant alternative to the street corner, the boy is gradually drawn into its many activities. Physical training and athletic games develop fitness of body and sportsmanship. “The library, music, drama, debates, show him the way to appreciation of literature and art. Hobbies such as carpentry and inetal work train hand and eye to stimulate the creative instinct of the craftsman. It may well be that, encouraged by the club leader, the boy will make a serious pursuit of one of these subjects and become a regular attendant at evening school. “But there is another, more important, result to be attained,” the royal visitor continued. “The value a boy gets from a good school is not confined to the actual scholastic teaching he receives. Far more important is the fact that he has learned to live in close conjunction with his fellow creatures, subordinating his persona! interests, though not his individuality to the common good.” During his visits to various boys' clubs in the county the Duke revealed the same happy knack as his brothers of making friends wherever he went At one club he enjoyed a game of talik tennis with a youthful opponent.