The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1942-11-06

this Job. They will require the bel
= of many other community agencies
: the welfare agencies to serve bot
: economic and social needs; the char
:, acter-b building organizations to serv
= out-of-school needs for constructive
activity; organized recreational pre-
: grams in which the young people o
:, all economic and social levels will
: have equal chance to develop skilll
:. and so acquire status and self-respect
= These agencies mentioned include
only few of those which already ex
: list in most progressive communities
!, The great need for co-ordinated effort
:, from every available resource toward
= the common goal OF increasing the
: life opportunities of every child is al
:, outstanding fact il our society today
t Youth Under Pressure
have had the opportunity of meet
ing and working with some young
:. people who displayed very clearly the
q results brought about by heavy eco
nomic pressures and an unfriendly So
cial environment. These youths tend
to become defensive and withdrawn.
They begin to feel they have nothing
, to contribute to society They lose
self-assurance. They even lose the
ability to grasp, of their own initia-
, tive, an opportunity which may pre-
? sent itself. They need help. and fl
nancial help is not sufficient. Money
alone neither makes nor breaks the
morale of an individual The con-
structive or destructive forces are re-
spectively those attributes of self-con-
fidence or self-distrust which accom-
pany the presence or absence of fl
nancial affluence.
One Positive Method
Recreation centers are badly needed
in every community. The unemployed
youth needs a resource for his after
working-hours social and physical rec
reation. In most towns, movies, pub
lie dances, and perhaps bowling, roll
ller-skating or pool halls offer the only
diversion. These recreations are ex-
pensive, and so are prohibited to
many working youths by this fact
moral influence exerted by some of
those named If the youth cannot af-
ford these available outlets, or if the
community prefers better moral at
mosphere for its youth, he must be
provided with suitable, inexpensive
recreation by his community. The
word suitable" implies a good deal.
The recreational facilities must be
planned according to the needs of the
particular types-age, sex, occupations
al-of young people to be served. The
center must be properly supervised. |
Delinquency gangs plan their "jobs"
around the ping-pong tables and juke-
boxes of the implanted, but perhaps |
well-intentioned, community center.
What Is Recreation?
Recreation" implies more than
mere play. These youths need vital
experience in community life. They
need to participate in planning their
own futures, in securing their own
jobs, in working for their own rec
reation, instudying their own COM
munity's short comings and its adj
vantages as well as in planning the
community's life. All these activities
are recreational.
There has been in the past, and in
the quite recent past. too much of
the feeling that "the world owes me +,
a chance" This has been expressed !
not only by the young people, but by
boi,s oil
must be supplanted by an energetic, l
aggressive, concerted attack by the l.
as a unit if real progress
IS to be made toward opening the
field of economic and social oppor- =
unity to todays youth.
The Individual and His Fellows q
Along with the realization of the =
great Importance of the individual in n
ociety, has come my conviction that Il
hese individuals must learn to work
ogether, comparatively, toward COM
non goals. Democracy implies the
'reatest good for the greatest num- n
'er Good" to my mind, means eco Z
ionic security, social contentment r.
POLITICAL freedom, and religious lib r
rty. These four attributes might be -
roken down into many component a,
arts. However, let us consider these Il.
our. How many of our 100 million o,
eople enjoy all four? Or three? Or 9,
'wo? Might we say there are some or
Unfortunate souls who enjoy none of or
1ese attributes of the good life? On
rgins of the Conflict III
When even one of these basic wants gr
left unsatisfied, a driving force is CT
hereby generated which in its at be
'mpt to satisfy that want, comes into or
onflict with other peoples in society w
no seem to have a monopoly on the
which is in demand.
Probably the conflict most charact- da
'istic or typical of the United States, CO
tide from baseballs World Series, is an
q timeless tussle beween capital and co
Dor, with economic security the TIL
lrning desire of both factions. I do tic
1t profess to be a student of labor be
lations, and | sometimes wonder, da
nically perhaps, if the struggle is da
It stemming more from habit, and 5.
ngenital enmity, rather than from run
cessity? -
ny Is the Conflict Endless?
Can it be possible that democratic the
mixers have been wrong for one the
ndred and fifty years in their as cur