RESPONSIBILITY FOR INSTRUCTING YOUTH

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6955, 8 July 1929, Page 5

RESPONSIBILITY FOR INSTRUCTING YOUTH

IGNORANCE IN ADOLESCENCE.

MINISTER OF HEALTH SUGGESTS A METHOD. With reference to recent Press reports concerning the decline of the birthrate in New Zealand, and the Minister of Health's comments at a meeting of the Plunket Society, the .Minister has since had a number, of interviews with prominent people interested in the subject. One educationist, with over 20 years of teaching experience with young girls, discussed the subject with the Minister in a very practical way. She observed that the personal questions of young girls have in many cases shown her that they are too often either completely igfS&rant of vital matters, at an age when they should havo intelligent guidance for the sake of their own future welfare and conduct, in society or sometimes even that their' sense of clean and healthy thoughts and attitude of life has been warped by contact with some more or less unwholesome source of information.

Whore mothers shirk their responsibility, and neither church no State schools supply the necossay answer, asks the Minister, can the child hope to gain advice and help, let alone high ideals with regard to its problems, and ■the necessary strength to meet those further ones with temptations? There are many grown women who refuso to hear mentioned anything dealing with the subject, and the Minister is of opinion that even teachers arc totally lacking in knowledge of the psychological aspect of life among modern boys and girls. Somehow so many folk appear to forget that they ever had any childhood of questions of their own iu their youth, which they would havo preferred to havo had decently answered, to collecting odd scraps of hearsay and being left often to piece them together as best they might to make a logical shield of knowledge with which to face life’s difficulties. These people are in no position to deal with the question.

It is useless to discover difficulties without suggesting some remedy, continues Mr Stallworthy. One suggestion is that some qualified woman under the control of Church of State should be engaged to instruct classes of girls; the Y.W.C.A. has conducted such classes in a restricted way.

Ho is convinced that no possible harm could come from such instruction undertaken by well-chosen persons. Those extreme conditions of life as recently depicted by Judge Lindsay, a.re isurely avoidable in an island community as New Zealand is, and education along enlightened lines should be used to prevent pernicious influences from outside affecting our youth.