Evening star., 1936-08-30

BY JOHN GLEISSNER.
w YITH 100000 youths be-
M tween the ages Of 16 and
Wv 25 out of school and un-
able to find work. parents,
educators and social workers again
are asking:
What is happening to YOUTH"
The question is not new, for it has
been asked in every generation since
the Athenians made Socrates drink
hemlock because they thought his
doctrines were corrupting the minds
of future citizens. 1t was asked
about the young people growing up in
world shattered by war. and later
about the flaming youth" Of the
golden '20s. when the antics Of the
flapper and her collegiate boy friend
caused elders to shake their heads.
But now a new note of anxiety
has crept into the voices OF those
who must chart the course of youth.
Is they watch the disheartening and
discouraging struggle of . new lost
generation" seeking to gain . foot
hold In q world that seemingly has no
place for it and no need for it.
Mad Boom Years.
The mad swirl of the boom years
reflected itself in youths headlong
pursuit Of pleasure and abandonment
Of convention, with apparently little
regard for what the future held.
Seven years of depression have pro-
duced new type, jolted into a reali-
zation that the same collapse that
threw thousands of adults out of work
deprived him Of opportunities en-
joyed by other generations.
This youth of today is eager and
enthusiastic in the traditional way of
youth. but he Is more serious and
more thoughtful, and uppermost in
his mind is the question of what is
to become of him and the 1000, 900
others who join his ranks each year.
He Is pathetically anxious to find
his own niche and carve out q career,
to marry. and to have home Of his
own. He wants an answer to the
question of why he cannot have these
opportunities that were held out to
him from childhood. Nowadays
youths world is a serious and per-
picking world, disturbed in relatively
greater degree by the same economic
and social cross currents that have
harassed all Of us.
Called Most Tragic Phase.
Leaders among social workers and
educators regard the plight Of youth
as one Of the most tragic phases of
the depression. There are some TO-
100000 persons In the country between
the ages Of Is and rs. OF these,
5000, 900 are idle because they have
completed their education and cannot
find jobs, or because they lack funds
to 60 to school. Three million are
from families on relief. The number
with nothing to do has been steadily
increasing since 1881.
The Government took cognizance
Of the problem in June of last year.
when the National Youth Admins
tration was established as an adjunct
to existing relief agencies. to devote
itself exclusively to helping young
people acquire an education and get
. start in life.
Aubrey williams, executive director
of N. Y. A., confesses that only q
part OF the young people of the
country can be reached, but is con-
vinced that much can be done on
many fronts-education, recreation,
vocational guidance and training,
placement service and private and
Government employment.
Comment Of williams.
youth tries to get an education
but finds that few odd jobs and few
scholarships are available" said VIII
liams. youth tries to select voca-
ton that has future and for which
he Is fitted but Ends that changing
economic conditions are bringing
about changing demands for skills,
that certain aptitudes are necessary
to be success in certain fields Of
work and that, unfortunately there
are almost no persons to whom to
turn for advice. Youth tries to find
. job and finds not only that previ-
Gus experience Is necessary. but that
millions Of adults already have regis
tered at employment offices. Youth
discovers that there Is an increasing
amount of leisure time to be disposed
Of and is bewildered at the problem
Of utilizing it profitably."
Young people have been spending
the best years Of their lives under q
cloud Of uncertainty. dependency and
unfulfllment. said Richard r. Brown,
deputy executive director Of N. Y. A.,
N discussing the activities Of his
unit.
ITO them . job is more than q
means Of earning q living" he said.
1T Is . means toward the restoration
Of elf-confdence and Of . sense Of
participating and having . dgniocant