TRAINING OF YOUTH

Wanganui Chronicle, 6 October 1947, Page 6

TRAINING OF YOUTH

SPEAKER STRESSES THAT IT IS A NATIONAL PRIORITY

•'We are all under a deep debt of gratitude to those youth organisations and their leaders who, for more than 50 years, have catered for the welfare of youth,” said Mr. J. H. Ledgerwood (Hamilton), in an address at the New Zealand Junior Chambers of Commerce luncheon on Saturday.

He said that they had done a splendid job. The training of young people in any country was a national priority and the Dominion had been fortunate in the type of young men and women who had dedicated themselves to the service of youth. Today more than ever there was an urgent need lor trained leaders to guide the rising generation, if tne best results were to be achieved. Much of the work of training youth today was carried on in out-dated buildings and with out-dated equipment, he said. This state of affairs needed remedying if the challenging tendencies of t he modern world were to be successfully combated. The turoulance and unrest which had followed the close of the recent war was bewildering to the youth of today. Thirty and more years ago life was more leisurely and spacious. In contrast today life is lived at a fast tempo. There was money in abundance and leisure in plenty, and unfortunately, many people had no real knowledge of how to use either to the best advantage. “Boys and girls are no different from what they were in our time, but there is a vast difference in the background which determines their behaviour,” said the speaker. He stressed the matter of intelligent direction of leisure tiifie activities as distinct from compulsory educational activities because of the vital principle of education which is involved.