LEAGUE OF MOTHERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 123, 27 May 1938, Page 2

LEAGUE OF MOTHERS

TALK ON "YOUTH" At the League of Mothers' meeting 1 held Wednesday last, Mr D. T. Allan, honorary general secretary of the Y.M.C.A., spoke on the subject of "Youth.” He thanked the league for the honour they had done him in inviting him to address them and spoke of the value of the work that the league was doing throughout the Dominion. Theirs was a protective and a constructive work. Constructive because it aimed at building up home lite which was the bulwark of the British nation. Protective because it was fighting those modern forces which were destructive of much that we held sacred in home and family life. These were days of loss of personal freedom and religious liberty. Extreme forms of Government were not only repressive, but were robbing the individual of those qualities which go to the building up of the highest ideals of Christian manhood and womanhood. In Russia they were banishing God to Siberia; in Germany they were proclaiming their antiChrist. Christian civilisation had elevated womanhood to a place of dignity. Christ had given her pre-emin-ence. There were many to-day who were sacrificing their birthright in this connection and were slipping back into their former slavery. The speaker said that when he contemplated the drift of society in these latter days, the dangers that confronted and difficulties that surrounded our young people, he thanked God that there were societies such as I the one he was addressing, whose aim was to build up those traditions of home life, which meant so much to individuals and national happiness. He was concerned principally this afternoon with the problems of modern youth, and as representing an association which was working for the betterment of youth, he would like to give some indication of the nature of the work that was being done by the Y.M.C.A. We had to be thankful for the many excellent cultural institutions in our land; but, in his opinion the greatest arid most important ot these was the home. Culture was a much misunderstood term. Culture was not the knowledge of and compliance with the dictates of modern society. It was something deeper than the whims of any social set. Culture was the acquisition of certain qualities which made it possible for the individual to enjoy the best things of life, at the same time enabling that individual to communicate something of these pleasures to his fellow man. The speaker, in a jocular way, referred to the great question of diet. Parents had become great students ot diet. They knew all about vitamins a, b, c, d, etc., were very careful as to the kind of food their children re- , ceived, but there was another class of diet; he wished to refer io the mental Rod. In the conduct of the home, in ■he conversation of the meal table and around the fireside he 1 eared the children of tne household were not given vlolesome mental food. Wrong mental food was capable of producing some of .he worst physical diseases in our land. It is sti.l a truism that a man is as he thinketh. The Y.M.c A. stands for physical culture, a strong and clean mind with lofty vision. Finally the matter of spiritual guidance. The association, through its programme, sought to know and to help the boy. It is realised that the most effective and lasting work can be done through close personal contact, and in this connection it studied the boy through home visitation, conference with pastor, teacher, and employer, and also the close observations of the boy's conduct in athletics and sports. Play was a great revealer of character. An effort is made to direct the youth towards right personal friendships. Additional information was cleaned through the study of their leisure occupations; the books they read, the motion pictures they preferred, the games they played, the use they made of their leisure, the use they made of their money; their opinions of their school and employment; their ambitions. A close study is also made of their powers and nature of observation; what was observed in the street and in the shop window, etc. Their observations when visiting museums and manufacturing organisations. The type and talk that interested them most; the questions they asked and then Sony attention is given to their preferences, who are their best friends and why. Their discontents are also studied, what subjects they

do not like to talk about with their contemporaries and their adults. In these efforts co-operation is sought with parents, pastors, teachers, ana employers. The aim of the work and observation is to develop in our youth strong Christian character, industry, ambition, and a vision of the best towards which we pray they may progress.