FOOTBALL SEASON CAN BE NIGHTMARE FOR PARENTS

White Ribbon, Volume 31, Issue 3, 1 July 1959, Page 5

FOOTBALL SEASON CAN BE NIGHTMARE FOR PARENTS

Reprinted from "Woman to Woman" by Sally, in The Evening Star, Dunedin, 11th April 1959 The football season it with parents again—-with us held-over meals (after mid-week practices), bruises, kicked heads, cuts requiring plasters, and that nightmare for parents •>• younj; drinking •ball on Saturda) >na ,i law in tins country that liquor uiav not ! Ito boys under _>l then where do they I M Saturday afternoons"-' I perturbed mother asked me.

She is IKX the hrst mother I'vf heard ask the same question; and I've seen the silly youths tOO, returning from football flushed and talkative and kidding themselves they are behaving like men The Crux

That's the crux of the whole thing, ol course 1 think smoking makes them men at 16; drinkii . and lining up at an hotel bm puts the stamp on their tnanln

"If 1 had my way, barmen who serve drink to younp boys would be behind bars," the mother to me said "And if the boys ftl the r own football clubs—itl -niltheir true ages ojght to be known there " I mad< inquiries about this from footballplaying boyj and I know and received a firm denial that beer Off any other liquor was supplied to anyone under 21 in football clubs rived to my inquiry as tO whether they were served in hotel bars after football on Saturdays, were ihmgl and, "What do you think r"

No Sleep? Another point made by my correspondent was that when I for the weekend with srorting teams thev come back looking as though they ha' r hern tO bed Could be a fact too—l once staved in an hotel at Queenstown o.rr Labour May weekend ami watched the male members, and one or two of the girls, oi nis from Dunedin, spend the whole day drinking, some o! them not even botherpart in th< - they had travelled QueenstOWn tO play Most of them were obviouslj under 21 This seems to me to be indicative ot the reasoni behind the problem the immaturity 'of boys between the ace- of IK and 20 and that it is a wise law that prohibits the supplying of liquor to those under 21 years (if «t erai str.ctly enl Practically everyone, except the boys themselves ;. aware that youths at this age are far less mature than K»rls of the same nerally There are, of course, exceptions among gu those who remain childish for ever-thinking it is smart to drink and smoke in hotel lounges like children who, if thev cannot attract attention to themsel 1 es in any other way, get it by being naughty However, they are fortunately lew and i.u .ecu—th< proportion, in all groups, of fools in our midst, On the whole, no one can leny that girls between tiie ages of 18 and 20 are better adjusted and balanced than boys of the same age.

"Catch Up" Recently, reporting on the Seacliff Hospital nurse recruiting campaign, the medical superintendent, Dr d Blake-Palmer said. 'We are not looking for men under 21 \ Males under that age are not as mature as girls—that is ;m established fact Of Course, they catch up later" Ye urse t! Bg back to the drinking problem, by that time the damage may been done if boys have developed undesirable habits

If it was not possible for them to begin drinking until they 1 led those silly, immature years, w iild approach it in a more balanced reasonable way, and might never start, or at least indulge only in moderation, according to their individual capacity and pocket But the drinking habit established earlier in those immature years might be impossible to uproot Liter. We have all heard of alcoholics

It can, and has, put finish to many promising ping initiative and ambition) and in the field rt too, must affect the chances of a boy ever being a top-notcher in his chpsen sport.

Different Urge Never let it be said, though, that al! boys fall into tin immaturity. There are the •is, who have the Strength of will and courage to refuse to follow the example of their %er contemporaries. Sometimes they are ited by a different urge—the determination to their money for the ultimate purchase of a motor cai me other ambition. But, sadly, too, are today those young le earning too much, when too young, for their own good. It is interesting to take a peep at the queues m the TAB on Friday evenings. I'll guarantee some of the faces I've seen there are under 21, ,md almost without exception they arc male Here is another instaro- where it is difficult to I age, and where the immaturity of youth with too much money (and sometimes not too much either) establishes- disastrous habits in impressionable years Boys in their employment are exposed in a ter degree to gambling in its various forms than are vjirls, and, of course, are more easily influenced, too.

Therefore, if we are agreed that boys are weak, immature and easily led m those years of budding manhood, isn't it up to the adults to do something about it ?

Shouldn't each and every one of us help in every way we can to see that the law designed to protect these young people is enforced?

A Thought Here's a thought—couldn't those older men lining up at hotel bars on Saturday afternoons Si barmen by pointing out those they know to be under age, so that the law could be enforced 5 If they bad consciences they wouldn't hesitate.

1 know lots of mothers who wouldn't nil to that, it mightn't be a bad idea if mothers took to invading hotel bars on Saturday afternoons for this very purpose. What an entertaining situation that would be?