RURAL YOUTH 



IN 



ILLINOIS 



By Frank Gingrich 



vJ/OLTH in the liL-.taiincs but 



}^ not in the hearts ot .ulultN.' 



Tins IS too often tlie ease with tlie 



world today. Business men, societies, 



newspaj^ers, and the 



Frank Gingrich 



men on the street, 

 often speak in 

 ^lowin^ terms ot 

 t h e opportunities 

 lor youth and their 

 place m the affairs 

 ol the world today. 

 Too many like to 

 see vouth in the 

 headlines of papers, 

 but have little re- 

 gard for the reason 

 why youth rated the headlines. Too 

 often these headlines have their .source 

 in places and surroundings which are 

 unpleasant for general conversation but 

 — it makes headlines. Many people 

 talk and write. Few formulate con- 

 structive policies. And fewer do any- 

 thing about it. 



Youth wants help, but they don't 

 want others to know it They need 

 sympathetic guidance, a mutual meet- 

 ing ground where they can battle with 

 conflicting ideas which are forever try- 

 ing to enter their lives. Ciood ideas, 

 bad ideas, constructive ideas, destruc- 

 tive ideas, all meet in the minds of 

 youth. They all come in together. 

 They are all examined, anil sometimes 

 the bad ones are kicked out. 



Develop Thinking Power 

 The ability to analyze and think 

 grows with age and experience. If 

 adults can provide challenging ideas 

 which will give rural youth an incen- 

 tive to study and analyze organization 

 and business enterprises that have x'^i^ 

 and experience, a step in the right direc 

 tion will have been taken. VC'ith this 

 training they will be better able to 

 meet their own problems as they arise. 

 This gives youth an opportunity to 

 study adults, copy their achievements 

 and avoiil the causes of their failures. 

 Several years at;o the Illinois Auri- 



rf'^'< ; 



A TAZEWELL DELEGATION 

 Pretty Norma Davles and Pals. 



cultural Association became interested 

 in helping rural young people of Illi- 

 nois in solving their own problems. In 

 January. \'-)'S^. liarl C Smith, President 

 of the As.sociation. summarized the at- 

 titude of our organization toward 

 young folks by saving: Our response 

 bility should" be one ot encouragement 

 and general advice, while theirs should 

 be to control, direct, and intensely de- 

 velop their program of attivities." Mr 

 Smith had particular reference to rural 

 young people who were out of school 

 and not yet established in business. 



On August f^. 193fi. a Director of 

 \'oung Peoples Activities was em- 

 ployed by the Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation to study existing conditions, 

 make recommendations for the future. 

 and develop a iirogram for rural youth. 



At the present time there are ~0 



MELVIN DIEHL, CARROLL COUNTY 

 ■WROK Listeners Heard Him Swing High 

 Swing Lo." 



county groups of young people organ- 

 ized under the direction of the Agri- 

 cultural lixtension Service. University 

 of Illinois. Approximately ■>()(»<) young 

 men and young women, out of .school 

 and not established in business or home 

 making, are members. The ages ot 

 this group vary from about IS to 1°^ 

 1 he following tentative objectives 

 h,i\e guided the Association in its ac- 

 tivities for rural youth. 



I lo cooperate with the lixtension 

 Service in Agriculture and Home 

 Hconomics to develop and corre- 

 Kite a program for tlie best inter- 

 ests of rural young people in Il- 

 linois. 

 2. To i^rovide an opportunity tor 

 rural young people to become bet 

 ter informed on various phases of 

 agricultural organizatujn and co- 

 operation. 

 V To develop and tram organization 



and cooperative leadership 

 (io\ernor W. I. .Myers of tlie I'arm 

 Credit Administration iirtrcs farm bovs 

 who will .itten>l agricultural colleges 

 this year, to make the most of their 

 opportunity to study f.irm cooperation 

 He jHiints out that courses in atrricul 

 iiir.il cooperation will be taught in i^ 

 out of the is state agricultural colleges 

 anil universities in the country 



Of Several Tv[x-s 



( )iie ot our aims is to j-'rovide tor 

 the thousands of young men and 

 women on Illinois farms that do not go 

 to college, an 0]iportunity lo share in 

 this Ivjsc of information and instruc- 

 tion It has been estimated that there 

 are .ibout so. (100 of these young folks 

 on Illinois farms today. 



There .ire several types ot lountv or- 

 g.inizations ot young people. In Liv- 

 ingston county the young men and 

 women e.ieh have their own separate 



JUNE. 1937 



23 



