Thames Star TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1929. ANNUAL SCHOOL EXODUS.

Thames Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 17763, 10 December 1929, Page 4

Thames Star

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1929. ANNUAL SCHOOL EXODUS.

"With malice towards none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives ,us to see the right."—Lincoln.

Some observations by Mi' Justice Frazer, in the Arbitration Court at Christehureh recently, came as a reminder of an impending exodus, and a standing but increasingly difficult problem. Within a few days the schools will hand over to society a multitude of boys and girls ready to be absorbed into the industrial and commercial life of the community. In a well-organised State, society would be prepared to deal, with this recurring annual problem. That this country is so prepared may be doubted. *We profess to be seriously concerned about the problem, but nevertheless allow it to drift. Unless we have some definite policy and clear-cut plans an undesirable proportion of our young people will wander into what are described., as blind-alley occupations. That was the point emphasised by Mr. Justice Eraser: "We havje got to Arid girls and boys work," he said. "We don't want to put them in blind-alley positions. We have got to be reasonable and; find legitimate openings for them. Boy labour is a great problem, and nobody wants to put men out and fill their positions with'boys or cheap labour. If' we could build up some semi-skilled trades they would be to my mind just the thing to absorb boys and also girls. That is about the only way I can see out of it." i The idea of providing special industries for the absorption of juvenile labour is somewhat vague. Much more to the point is Mr Justice' Frazer's plea for a reasonable attitude on the part of employers and trade-unions. The trouble in dealing with juvenile labour is that both employers and unions, generally •speaking, think more about own special interests ithajn about the eager young. people who are knocking at the door, pleading for admittance. Industry has yet to appreciate, and wholly accept, its social responsibilties. Juvenile employment is one of them. It is not unlikely that before very long the education system will be reformed and extended in one important particular: the raising of the school-leaving age to 15 years. Should this become an accomplished fact certain important reactions should follow. Itt the first place, there will be a sudden stoppage in the first year of the school exodus. At the end of the twelve months, it will be resumed, and thereafter continue its normal course. In the meantime the labour market,-.tem-porarily denuded of its juvenile supplies, should experience an increasing demand which at the- end of the year should be keen enough to absorb them when they arrive. In the second place, the new army of juvenile workers would be of a superior type, or should be, intellee tuallj-. Another subject on which it is desirable that there should be no misconception is that of "blind alley" occupations. There should not, strictly speaking, be any such thing. It is a question of aptitude and adaptability. What to one boy would be a "blind alley" would be to another a thoroughfare, a main highway to a career. Hence the necessity for systematic vocational guidance. It may be argued that such a system would be futile as long as the possibility existed of the guided finding at the outlet the door to a congenial avenue shut and barred. The reason no doubt is that co-operation has been lacking. It becomes clearer every year that the problem of juvenile employment is not for the industrialist, or the commercial man, or the educationist alone, but for all concerned. The solution touches the community at every point, and for that very reason cannot be satisfactorily determined by a section of it.