Patea & Waverley Press FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1925. MODERN YOUTH

Patea Mail, Volume XLVIII, 22 May 1925, Page 2

Patea & Waverley Press FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1925. MODERN YOUTH

scathing’ criticism of the overdressed youth of the present day v. as delivered recently by a prominent Christchurch, business man, when asked if he considered the kOth century young man was more freakishly dressed than the ..caatiiy-elad iiapper of to-day. “Of course we never expect to. see these striplings coming out half-' dressed, like many of their sisters! do,” he said, “but one can never' tell. The average young man of to-day is an utter fool. 1 have found from experience that quite cl) per cent, of the lads leaving high schools and colleges are a pleasure-seeking, jazz-mad lot of kuovvalis. They know nothing, make no effort to learn, and seem to be good' for nothing hut running after girls. I think the school could do a little more than they are doing to instil a better spirit Into these follows. Ifrom what 1 can sec at the present time they are turning out ne’er-do-wells by the hundreds. They are girl-mad before they leave school, and after wards they’re useless. You will hud people prepared to pronounce me a madman, but that is simply because they have not had rhe experience. Only the oilier day I advertised for a youth to assist in the office, one just left school preferred. Thai, position is; still vacant, not because I received no replies. Imi for the very simple reason that there was not an innJngeii!, sane-looking lad among die twelve or lift con that thought it worth while to call on me. One fellow came in -wearing socks of a wildly startling hue, his tie was like Joseph’s coat, only a little more colourful, and it covered the whole of his shirt front. Ills hat, which, by the way, he forgot to remove until he began to pour out ids qualifications, was as gussy a thing as was over seen on the head of a woman. Needless to ray, his clothes condemned him from the outset, hut 1 listened to all he had to tell me about his ‘hedicatiou,’ and then gave him a little advice. He had had three years at a secondary school, and was now 18. lie told me, and he would have been going back to school this year if it hadn’t been for the epidemic keeping the schools closed. During the three months’ idleness he bad decided to go to work, lie told me that, he had already applied for five For lnflv.cur.fi Colds taka Woods' kreat Peppermint Cure

positions, and had missed every one. They had been hi led before he had put in his application. 1 told him I was sorry, but that he was going to draw another blank. ‘Go back to school, lad,’ I said, ‘and for heaven’s sake, next time you apply for a job, dress yourself like a. man —not a yahoo.’' Another business man, when approached, said: “We hear a lot of talk' about the dress of the young woman of to-day, but what about the youth who stands about the street corners displaying his mik hone and his spotted shirt ? Don’t talk to me about -women. One can under:-,land them comingout in the creations they do, but a man, even a half-grown one — well, 1 for one can’t understand it. Not only in their dress, but in their speech they make unmitigated fools of themselves. I would not like to say that this snobbish talk could be traced back to the secondary schools, but I have a suspicion that way. There arc schools in this city that are turning- out these half-educated lads by the dozen each year, and it is from these schools that you get your nonsensically-clad youth. Tie cannot talk decent English, and seems to derive a great amount of pleasure from using the most meaningless slang he can lay his tongue on. These fellows refer to their fathers as ‘the old pot and pan.’ Whether they were taught manners I do not know, but I am sure they do not use them, but as i have, in effect, already said, all boys cannot be painted with the same brush.”’ There is no doubt a great deal of truth in what I here business men say with regard to the over-dressed “rabbit” of the present day. The teachers of our public schools might do worse than call the attention of their pupils to the folly and absurdity of young men, who should set an example of manliness, developing into he-Jlappers. The men who made history for New Zealand on the battlefield and the football held were not men of this stamp, and it should be the desire and aim of the rising generation to copy these real men, rather than pose as tailors’ dummies. The plain British bulldog is certainly a more useful animal than a beribboned poodle.