Wind down

As the final week of the school holidays arrives, and children everywhere are looking with distaste at the thought of returning to school, Llandudno braces itself for the cheap holiday period - the months of September and October when the kids are back and the hotels and travel operators seize the opportunity to present deals to those who like their holidays unspoilt by screaming offspring.

It’s also a time of contrasts: the Daily Post has two singularly interesting articles (well, it has more, but we’ve only space for the two) which illustrate society’s ambivalent outlook towards the young. We read that - on the one hand - youths are responsible for the closure of Flint Castle to the Public whilst, on the other, we read that an ‘unknown hero’ rescued an unconscious five year-old from the sea in Llandudno, yesterday. The amount of space devoted to the yobs and - elsewhere - to warnings from the Police that the sixteen year-old recipients of the GCSE results tomorrow had better not get drunk is in stark contrast to the single column inch which describes the ‘unknown hero’ as a young man in his early 20s.

The simple fact is that our young people don’t get a good press - unless they happen to be in a vineyard, of course. Unhappily, stories of marauding, drunken yobs (an anagram of ‘boys’, BTW) sell more papers and attract more viewers than stories of youngsters involved in community work and self-improvment activities. But you might be surprised to know how much is done in that respect.

One of the oldest youth organisations - the Scouts - is strong in the area. A particularly good example is the Rhos Scout group; boys from that group devote each Wednesday afternoon to setting up the stage and seating for the Trinity Players’ weekly sell-out concerts. Over the years, Trinity have raised more than £80000 for charities, but setting up for the shows takes energy and time. Cue Rhos Scouts, who - with total reliability and compete integrity - have been arriving at the Church every Wednesday afternoon since the start of June to set up the staging, put out the chairs and do any other jobs that the Trinity Players need before their show. They do this not for financial reward - because they don’t get any, although the Scout Group does get a donation - but because it’s a part of what Scouts do.

The Welsh Scout Council - the governing body for all Scouts in Wales - also owns a large campsite and all-year accommodation venue at Lake Crafnant, and this site attracts Scouts, youth groups, Local Authorities and Schools from all over the UK and Europe. The Scouts’ sister organisation - the Guides - is no slouch either, and - despite remaining resolutely single-sex - is oversubscribed and full to bursting.

The Schools also run D of E award schemes, which see community involvement as a major strategy in the scheme and involve youngsters from 14 upwards in numerous community projects. In fact, the realty is that most of the teenagers in our community work hard, give of their time freely and constructively and are a major benefit to the society. Next time we see a group of drunken youths, let’s not forget that they represent only a small minority of the youngsters in our area.