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When
Se ool is Out...
WHAT THEN?
Tens of thousands of teen-agers- facing sum–
mer vacation with nothing to do
-
will soon spill
onto city streets. The vast ma;ority wi/1 waste
three months. A/1 too many wi/1 end up in trouble.
Are YOU a teen-ager? Why not make YOUR
N
OT MANY
years ago most commu–
nities looked forward to sum–
mer vacation. The picture of a
barefoot lad wending his way to the
fishing hole was still a common and
cherished sight. Summer was pleasant
and there was plenty to do. Oh, the
kids might get under foot a little before
September rolled around, but they
weren't any real trouble.
Yes, for those of us over thirty, look–
ing back on the last day of school in
May or June usually brings nostalgic
remembrances.
Summers were just as long and hot
then, but not in the way we
~hink
of
those terms today. There always seemed
to be something to do, someplace to go,
and an odd job to be had. Life was
much simpler.
Drinking, vandalism, and juvenile
crime wcre things we vaguely heard
about for the most part. Drugs were
mysterious, ominous and al! but
unknown. The word "riot" wasn't even
in the average youngsters vocabulary.
Summer is a Challenge
Unfortunately, that's all changed
now. The picture of the boy wending
summer vacation pay off?
by
Vern
L.
Farrow
his way to the fishing hole no longer
portrays life in our urban society.
Instead, today's youth more often faces
a long, hot summer on steaming city
streets - three months of boredom and
frustration.
As a result, summer has come to
stand for trouble - big trouble! It is a
time when juvenile vandalism sky–
rockets - when latent gang fights and
riots simmer and erupt. It is a time
when the temptation to indulge in drug
abuse, sexual promiscuity, and youthful
crime is greatest among masses of
unsupervised, unemployed, and unmoti–
vated teeo-agers just hanging around
waiting for something to happen.
But what about you? Are YOU a
teen-ager? Are you going to live
through another summer "acciden–
tally"? Wi ll it really solve your prob–
lems if you waste three months hanging
around a street comer or drive-in wait–
ing for something to happen? Think it
over. You don't have to
u ·aste
your time,
you know. This could be the most st im–
ulating and maturing summer of your
life.
Of course, you can cop out, be bored,
make excuses, bellyache, and wallow
around in self-pity if you want to. On
the other hand you could decide to do
something constructive with your time.
It's entirely up to you.
Rig ht Q uestions -
Wrong Answers
Right about now sorne of you are
thinking, "Yeah, constructive- what do
you mean constructive ?" O.K., let's just
take a guick look at what we are talking
about.
Unless you are very different from
most young people, the chances are tbat
you are confused and frustrated with
l ife. You have a lot of big nitty-gritty·
type guestions that nobody is answering
for you. You're wondering just who you
are, what you're here for, and where
you are headed. You're wondering what
Jife is all about anyway. You're wonder–
ing whether a little sex, or pot, or
tobacco is really all that bad. You're
wondering what success in life really is
and how to achieve it. And, you're won–
dering how you can find happiness that
satisfies and lasts. Right? Right! So,
welcome to the human race ! Man has
been trying to solve these head–
scratchers for centuries, you see, so