Pass the youth; Sample

Why if he fails physics I'll be positively mortified. Pass the salt and he tells me just yesterday that he'd rather go to the state university than to an ivy school. Here's the toast. You know he's still insisting on that dirty construction job this summer. He knows you give him a good job in your office. Has the youth passed the youth a five part series on today's young people. Their efforts to meet society's challenges and their own challenges to society. This is part one a definitive view of adolescence through the eyes of a youth worker and young people themselves. The adolescent has been defined as the youth who is old enough to make love but not yet old enough to vote. In other words one who is physically mature and who in primitive societies would have been accepted as an adult but is not yet recognized by his society as being emotionally mature enough to take on the responsibilities of citizenship. Whether this is a satisfactory definition is another question which this program will hopefully answer. The question of the adolescent or the teenager or the young person or the student generation

is a touchy question. This is a time of protest and unrest and the student generation is at the forefront of that on the rest. It is or will be the best educated generation in history and is demanding an increasingly larger role in the running of society. But who are the adolescents. What claims do they have on society. How do they view themselves and their elders. What do they think of the generation gap. If they believe there is one to answer the first question what is an adolescent. We turn to Abraham Reyes director of the youth department at the Riverside Church to answer the others we turn to some adolescents. We got together a group selected only on the basis of their ability to express themselves and asked them to talk about whatever they want to talk about which turned out to be nearly everything on this program you'll hear their comments on the generation gap. Affluence freedom. What turns them off. What turns them on. This is a Mexican citizen. He's in his early 30s. A fact which is not yet impeded his ability to relate to young people. He's been director of the youth department at the Riverside Church for

about a year and before that was a youth worker at the Westside YMCA. In a recent talk before a group at the Riverside Church Mr. Reyes offered an enlightened look into the nature of adolescence. I think you have to realize that adolescence is pretty much a North American invention. It was something that came up roughly the last two decades of the 19th century it isn't anything that just happened about the use of Jesus Christ pretty much as a result of the kinds of things that were happening in Europe in terms of writing books about young people so that when you talk about youth you have to talk about adolescence and the whole concept of adolescence as a human development process did not exist in North America until the last two decades of the 19th century. At this time the young people the people in this period of growth were pretty much regarded

us as a stage in life which needed to be dealt primarily in the light of moral implications. People got terribly concerned about. Women sex and a lot of other things. And this period of life adolescence got identified primarily as a period in life where you relate to the young people on the basis of moral problems and many of the concerns that were evident in the thinking of the eighteen hundreds let's say 18 25 was related to the problem of authority which is nothing new to us today. There was an attitude on the part of of the elders to to assume an attitude of suppression and strict training and obedience because there was a feeling and the late and early 1900s that that authority was pretty much on the wane. So that this notions about child bringing

young people seem to be more necessary at this time primarily because there was a tremendous need to do establish some kind of parental authority at the time. So then in 1832 pretty much a sense of abuse begins to emerge in the consciousness of the North American society. Sometimes people define it at this time as a critical transition period and the life of nearly everyone period in life where the world is rosy where you have nothing to worry about where responsibility is almost non-existent. He was also the father. At that time there they told us I joined Sept. 5 o'clock to bring him down no later than 5:30 in the morning and we were accepted and they refused him simply because he was not a female. And they said they were only accepting females when they were yet I called them

Friday and they tell me otherwise. Tell him that if he comes Monday they were except the men and at the same time you have 40 addicts or possibly 40 addicts out the window yelling out to their peer to try to get in one way or the other because there are bans appear valuable so I don't know what's going on out there and into bed hospital but that's neither here nor there. The idea that a lot is program are not realistic programs they are not good for the addict on the street when one wants to motivate himself. We found out about Odyssey House on the day that I go on the show was a little tomato yet actually is our forte also for not signing up and yet we were trying to think it was man's meat. And by doing that we overlooked Odyssey House just like we overlooked a great deal of other programs but we covered the majority of the programs. Hector died and what about the ones who don't die. What is happening to those kids least title of one family.

Liter water is a non drug problem than anything and then you know our society today is that it's not only here in Teemu and the young ones too well will love and simulate hill and when we were at Billy's boarding or theme song 97 which they had their juggling was anything serious here that we were down there and who is supporting not if they have a job there were 12 year old down there is known was a route. Now the thing that I get is the break. Does mall with anything that was an only team now it was all flow hitting need a younger level under the gauge is the thing that it is now a rock and of the

program don't recognize you. Well of Flanders and they have product line. On top of Governor you know I can see you know you feel funded like under the age of 16. Like when we try we were trying to get this hotline and we decided to go to the schools to the public schools and I asked for some time in the auditorium period to talk to the youngsters. Tell about a rally that we had we are you know we are planning. We run into a lot of hassle bad cause for the simple reason that the Board of Education at the principal told us you know it's working with programs with drug programs and we asked them which ones and they asked us Why are we working with this program from 16 years and over. And in the junior high school that's unrealistic because the kids there are 15 and under. So what kind of how can they really get on. And besides that we told them OK well can you give us a free time anyway. We went over to one school in particular and the principal had just signed one guy

to Phoenix House the day before for being on drugs and he was out that same day the next day the day we went and he asked us you know where can we send if we sent him to Odyssey House but there's just to show you that you know the drug program in the you know high schools is unrealistic. I think Odyssey House is the one that was in so much trouble for high 900 someone he thought a lot of the are funny things and we supported them actively Was there a lot we still plant people in this city but they deal with me you know. I am looking at pictures right now it looks like a demonstration many people were involved in the business and we went to LA to see how the ride was this when they were being threatened with legal action. DA Yes that was when they wanted on some kind of an Amy band above their already blockbuster didn't write anything else you could think of for the joy of it or them. Well they're trying everything I thought the problem with Odyssey House was headed in the Bronx to where they had them with a lawsuit for having a broken water pipe out front and they tried to cut up the

electricity and water for this that it is a realistic are they trying to help to get the city into and often about adolescent addicts that are so why you know block somebody who's doing it on their own you know they do in a small and self-supporting and I God they want they want to they want the city to support it but not to to to to run their program to pray. And I go anyway because I like it. It's the law or Michael Moore says I do like school when he goes I do. And secondly it's also interesting that everybody else around the table there either seems to like school. I mean I'm missing something that I have met with a lot of pardon pardon me saying so what I think you've had a very very narrow group of students whom you haven't met in a very many students because if you take a poll of students I think you'll find a hell of a lot and enjoy when they get in the college and they're allowed to pick their own electives.

You'll find kids who are enjoying what they're doing when they're allowed to pick what they're doing you'll find a lot that we can get into and arguing about that I've been to college and you haven't the point is that around the table around this table for the purpose of discussion everybody else seems to have different perceptions and what I'm curious about. If I find it very interesting contrast I find somebody I expected to be far out of the radical to be a liberal and I have a certain evidence more than anybody else at the table. A commitment to action you're involved in politics. A commitment that there is a purpose and that if you do do something to life that it will work to mysel our brothers on the other hand who never got a chance to to answer my question. And I'm still fascinated by I said you know to her the society offers nothing and she sees no reason whatever really to to be involved in it that she would much rather go out and do something. For me it was just beyond beyond this society or it would look like I'm a lot older.

What is that like to get that question all right. I don't that is something Nick said before about school and liking being there and he has to go because of what I just turned 16 a couple months ago and I can now drop out of law and I should I really should because I see no purpose in school. It's stupid for me. Anything I want to learn I could learn myself I don't need the school can I ask you a question. I don't. Don't you enjoy things in a different perspective and can you possibly enjoy things you would not have been able to if you hadn't gone to school. I don't. I used to think that way. I thought maybe I just don't like the school because I'm young. Maybe it will all fall together because you were taught to read in school I presume. Yeah and now you can read the papers and you can find out maybe it's slanted maybe it's not. You can find out the sum to be what's happening around you and you can and you know the English grammar so you can sit around these mice and sound like someone who knows what the talking could not have learned that without the school you could have but it would take you a hell of a longer I don't think so I know that I could have taught myself much faster than I'm going to tell you

something like this saying how would you know that it's wrong. What difference does it make black and white students talking with Sam like him about the problems and value systems of young blacks and whites. We will return with more after station identification. You're listening to Pastor you part three in a five part series focusing on the problems and values of the youth. We now return with sound like I'm director of the youth service for Morningside Heights talking with you from the community he said. Instead of heart and she was bedridden for which she still had something to say I'm sure that a lot of people would be able to give but I think I think we had a fight if I didn't mean I didn't mean to do it it apparently seems that I've done which means put so much emphasis on the 8. I'm simply saying that going to school I think she has learned to appreciate things. No we're not and I don't I am not an expert on her or or school. I'm just saying that in my

opinion if you go to school you learn to appreciate things which you could not appreciate if you had not I don't You would think just bad things about the school she's done so far grades K through you know 10. But now she wants to get out OK but then aren't you wouldn't it possibly tell us why you don't want my question I want to get out why you want to split. Because. I know this is I don't see any purpose in staying in. I'm not learning the things I want to learn and I'm not doing the things I want to do. I'm not really interested in algebra I'm not interested in things like that. I want to be with my friends. What do you want to learn. I want to learn about my friends and people you know like there is no obvious that that isn't the answer. Possibly too because to get out when you get in the college say become an exchange student or go in the Peace Corps or something like that or something where you got to go over education why are there what do you how can you help.

How can you help people if you don't have anybody backing you if you don't have an organization behind you how can you distort. Hey in terms of its consumer appeal in the well there were a lot more people reading it you know whether or not there were nothing such as photographs radios and television to you know why didn't the means of communication you know books for instance back in the middle ages books were the way to tell people what your ideas were that was a small minority of the people. Yeah I mean but we can talk really you know in and consider your mother and father. Do they have a lot of books stacked around the house from before you came along to live with them. Did they used to read when you were a child did you see observe them reading a lot. Yes I let mother read a tremendous amount of books that my father doesn't read that much and I haven't really read much either

said what I have to for school to start another book. Well I'd be interested in knowing if you all can try to individually make a bit of a summary of where divergent tracks have led us and let me just run around the table and and see if you can we've talked about to a good many art forms and we've talked a little about the very essence of art itself as it translates itself into these forms. And I've been quite frankly surprised and somewhat cheered to hear you affirm over and over again the ancients as well as the moderns to borrow some stock phrases for it for different levels of experience and traditions. And I'm surprised at this I'd like to see how you do with summing up what we've been talking about. You want to start. Why have we just been talking about it. History and sensitivity in truth which is what most people I guess basically would like to get right.

We really sum up we've been talking about the mass media as well as just our feelings of the save the house rows of houses identical houses and the difference in art and the way Art can affect the lives of people and the pros and cons of a lot of different aspects of art. MARK Well we've I think we've been discussing about how the art forms have progressed and they're becoming slowly better and better and they're trying out new things to see where they can go you know I think nudity is just an experiment right now in the theater to see you know how well that fits in and they're trying to put more truth into the arts you know and getting greater freedom of expression which of course they didn't have. Back then OK. OK friends good and bad you want to wrap up for us

was as Mark commented. Truth will eventually take the place of a very vain appreciation of the arts as man matures in his thinking and our society has always been built upon a work kind of program. Ever since the beginning of the world and all those activities and thinking have been based upon the physical aspect of a working soon are as I said before our technical ability will wipe out the work time. It will be a great amount of time to explore one's mind as of yet. Man has not taken that option with the time he has been taken up with many artificial means of occupying his mind. Because as I'm sure Ross commented it is painful to be sensitive of your fellow man and. As

time progresses as me matures he will find it or it will or it will supply in his mind with with a great deal more satisfaction than he's been able to achieve in any other in other any other way. Fine. Well I've enjoyed distinguished you four gentlemen today and as I said before I have been heartened and encouraged by some of the things you said and stimulated by them all and appreciate you visiting with me. You've been listening to the fourth nwr of the Rs 5 program series past the youth a study of the problems of youth in an urban environment. On this program for young people discuss culture and the arts. It was moderated by Frank ball director of the theater at the Riverside Church. Guest on the broadcast were frank Cobb Cetus Ross Miller Mark Clinton and Douglas Hedwig. The program was produced by Barney Quinn. This program was a production of the public affairs unit of w r b r New

York this is the national educational radio network.