Worry About Today's Youth Is Misdirected,
Psychologist Claims at Agencies' Meeting
"Some of my best friends are
— teen-agers."
A psychologist, speaking at the
joint meeting of three Detroit
Jewish agencies, provided a twist
to an old euphemism, chiding
adults for making adolescents the
object of a new prejudice.
Dr. Fritz Redl, distinguished
professor of behavioral sciences at
Wayne State University, said at
the Jewish Center Tuesday night
that adults fail to see youths as
persons, considering them guilty
until proven innocent.
"And we are even estranged
from our own teen-agers we love,"
he added. "This is something we
really should worry about."
Dr. Redl found many other
reasons for worry, entitling his
talk "Youth of Today—Are We
Worrying About the Wrong
Things?" The meeting brought
together leaders and workers in
the Jewish Family and Chil-
dren's Service , Resettlement
Service and Jewish Center.
How do we "survive with Jun-
ior"? Dr. Redl said "We must teach
the teen-ager to defend himself
against group pressure. It takes
guts to resist tyrants, but we must
make them realize the difference
between a gang of loud kids and
a predatory mob.
"We cultivate popularity. Our
concept of character is obsolete.
We must try to warn our children
that it is just as bad to keep 'good
company' when it's under group
intoxication . .
"We exaggerate habit forma-
tion," Dr. Redl continued, "worry-
ing about whether teen-agers will
continue bad habits when they
grow up. We should worry more
about squashing valuable character
traits such as intelligent rebellion."
He suggested that parents not
"call a psychologist just because
your child has the guts to be dif-
ferent from all the others."
them a moratorium" to learn
through their mistakes, "but we
cut off the oxygen. The world we
live in may be to blame for the
impulses and desires we're not so
hot about."
Years ago, the United States
provided an outlet for young
Europeans who sought "a thera-
peutic runaway," Dr. Redl said.
"But if your kids should seek
such a runaway, it ends at the
desk of the Traveler's Aid lady."
The Sputnick neurosis, he said,
"has made us worry about their
brains but not enough about places
for them to sit." So we continue
to blame young people for our own
inadequacy, he said, and the result
is an increase in neurosis among
teen-agers, a "fatalistic surrender,
in \vhich they say, 'I'm no good
no matter how hard I try.' "
*
*
and boards of directors were
named for approval. Resettlement
Service officers were elected, but
the other two agencies will name
officers at a later date.
Mrs. Samuel Caplan is new presi-
dent of the Resettlement Service,
succeeding Nathan L. Milstein.
Other officers of the agency, con-
cerned with the resettling of refu-
gee families, are Mrs. Sol Gross-
man, vice president; David I.
Rosin, treasurer; and Mrs. Lewis
Manning, secretary.
Reelected for a three-year term
ending in 1967 were board mem-
bers Walter Herz, Mrs. Julian H.
Krolik, Nathan L. Milstein, Mrs.
Harold Schakne, David I. Rosin,
Jack Stattman and Mrs. Irving
Steinman.
New board members elected for
a two-year term ending in 1966
were Mrs. Sidney Schwartz and
Presidents of all three agencies Mrs. David Wilkus.
The Jewish Family and Chil-
completed their terms of office,
dren's Service, under outgoing
president Max M. Shaye, reelected
to its board of directors Dr. S.
Joseph Fauman, Mrs. Benjamin E.
Jaffe and Philip R. Marcuse, three
years; and Dr. Louis Heideman
and Mrs. Morris Kane, two years.
New board members are Harry
Bal tuck, Mrs. Harold Berry, Max-
well Katzen, Mrs. Charles Lakoff
and Harold Victor.
Outgoing president of the Jewish
Community Center is Charles H.
Gershenson. Returned to the board
of directors for a three-year term
are Dr. Henry Berris„Jacob J.
Keidan, Louis LaMed, Samuel Lin-
den, Milton J. Miller, Mrs. Arthur
H. Rice, Mrs. Jack J. Wainger and
Mrs. Sidney J. Winer.
Elected were Mrs. Samuel S.
Aaron, Herbert Alan Aronsson.
Martin E. Citrin, J. Richard Coop-
er, Richard Kux, Mrs. Emil D.
Rothman and Joel D. Tauber, three
years; Mrs. Milton L. Berry, two
years; and Aubrey H. Ettenheimer,
Benjamin Frank, Martin Fried and
Hugh W. Greenberg, one year.
Israel-Euromart Pact Spurs
Syria to Seek Arab Action
.
BRUSSELS (JTA) — Syria has
asked the Arab League to convene
its economic council immediately
to reconsider the trade agree-
ment reached between Israel and
the European Economic Commun-
ity.
The Israel-EEC agreernent,
reached on April 27, was signed
Wednesday by Alex Herbst, direc-
tor-general of external relations
of the EEC and Ambassador Arniel
Najar, head of the Israeli mission
to the EEC. The date of the final
signatures and entry of the pact,
which gives Israel substantial
tariff cuts on a number of major
exports, will be announced later.
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And there is today "a refresh-
ing characteristic we must culti-
vate—ego resilience—when a child
in a difficult situation can snap
out of that temporary difficulty."
Dr. Redl advised adults to "learn
to say a clean yes and a clean no."
Teen-agers exploit a cloudy reply,
he said.
Noting the concept of the "re-
ward for a job well done," he
added that for some children
"the awareness of the future has
no power over the present, so
the image of future gain is
empty. We must fill that image
with meaning."
Dr. Redl cited the "implementa-
tion of hypocrisy, fraud, naivete
and despair" that have character-
ized the handling of youth prob-
lems. Even if these problems are
detected early, he said, "there is
little excuse for early neglect.
There are too few facilities, not
too little detection."
He accused the citizenry of be-
ing "number conscious", omitting
services that are needed, and he
noted a "punitiveness creeping in"
where teachers and administra-
tors "who really love kids, take out
their frustration on these children
because there are too few facili-
ties."
Services not developed in appro-
priate quantity, he suggested, in-
clude therapeutic tutoring, thera-
peutic boarding schools, and more
foster homes to handle "problem
teen-agers."
"Is the space these kids have to
grow up in adequate? We give
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, May 8, 1964
6
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