Magyar Egyház, 1958 (37. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1958-02-01 / 2. szám
12 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ MATURE ADULTS - INTELLIGENT YOUTH by Albert W. Kovács Youth are the leaders of tomorrow, as no one will deny. But if the leaders of the future act like so many of today’s youth, what will tomorrow be like? The shameful rise of juvenile delinquency at the same time church membership has risen to its highest figure in the history of our nation is most confusing. With more Christian people, this ought to be a better nation, but the opposite has happened. It is obvious to the person who looks at the total picture seriously, that although more people are church members, less people are taking Christ seriously. More adults and youth are taking the vows of loyalty to His way, but fewer are living as sincere Christians ought. Juvenile delinquency is only one example of this hypocritical situation. Adult drunkeness, immorality, gambling and lawlessness are other examples. However, since it is so hard to teach new tricks to an old dog, although the Church will not give in, perhaps it would be better to spend more effort to invest in the proper upbringing of American youth than to band one’s head against the wall of adult society. A safety deposit box requires two keys to open it, and there are two keys to a better youth for a better tomorrow. The one key is held by youth itself, and the other is held by adults. Youth are the possessors of the future, but adults are the custodians of the treasures to be handed to youth. So the responsibility is two-fold. Adults, who are responsible for the education of their children, the spiritual growth of God’s children, and the development of a responsible citizenry, cannot shirk their task. Neither can they deny that they have a major part to play in shaping the ideas and ideals of youth. Look at the smallest child and it is obvious that he learns by copying the actions of older people. Even a two year old doesn’t want to be called a “baby”, and will cry to show his hurt, because he wants to be known as a “big boy”. The grade school child likes to be called a “young man”, and the high school senior a “young adult”. In the high school youth is the center of the problem of juvenile delinquency. Adults expect him to act like a man. He wants to be a man. So he acts like one. He asks himself subconsciously, “What do adults do?” He finds that they swear, so he too swears. They smoke, so he sneaks a smoke. They drink, so he buys a beer where ever he can. They read trashy books, so he spends his money on the same kind of rags. After all, if adults do these things, aren’t these signs of being an adult? Adults do these things, yet they condemn a youth when he does them. Many a youth’s parent has bragged about the time he had a ticket fixed and the “pull” he has, and then is shocked to find that somehow his son has no respect for the law and the fairness of justice. He tells of how he found some tool “lying around” at work which he picked up and brought home, and wonders where his son picked up the idea of stealing. When youths hear their older friends brag about how many drinks they can hold, is it no wonder that they want to prove they can hold their liquor just as well as any adult? Or, again, if a youth hears how much fun it is to make a pick-up in some bar or on some street corner, wouldn’t he be tempted to prove he is an adult, and can do just the same? It is quite clear then that if adults are going to bring up their children properly, and provide that all young people are going to develop into good adults, the adults will have to bring adult delinquency to a halt, and begin to set an adult example for youth. When youth sees that the mark of an adult is responsibility at home, honesty at work, loyalty to the Church of Christ, and respect in the community, it will act like that kind of an adult, instead of a younger version of an adult delinquent. But youth will only see that side of life only if adults show it to them by living it. On the other side of the question, however, is the key held by youth itself. When the time comes to grow from childhood into adolescence, it is time for youth to become serious about itself. Parents and adults have provided the guidance and answers while he was too young to think for himself the answers to many questions. But with the teens, this ability comes — and this responsibility. An example of this may be found in the Church in the rite of Confirmation. The parents had been responsible for the Christian growth and conduct of their children, and they still do have a responsibility. But in the sight of God, youth accepts for itself the responsibility for his own life and the consequences of it at death. The parent’s role now is only one of the helpful elder brother. In the teens, youth are responsible for their own actions, and adults are only the helpful voice of experience. Actually, teenagers are adults, as God working through nature has intended them to be. Their bodies have undergone great biological changes in preparation for its part in adult life. The teens are the apprentice years of adulthood. Every machinist serves a period of apprenticeship before he is considered full-fledged and given the responsibility of doing an entire job alone. This is why, although they are physically able, teenagers do not marry. This is a time for learning how married people live, so the young adult will be fit and ready for marriage emotionally and mentally as well. Youth, as adult apprentices, need experienced hands to guide them properly. An apprentice machinist will not bother with the shop bungler, learning bad habits he will have to painfully unlearn. He will seek out the best machinist in the shop, to learn the tricks of the
