Brockton High School - Brocktonia Yearbook (Brockton, MA)

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ROBERT PAULSON RICHARD MEYERS Orotor Poet IRVING BAILET PHYLLIS PALMER Odist Composer I6

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SMX HISTORIANS x :Q x MARY QUALLINS CHESTER EURGESS DOLORES NARDUCCI WNCENT SALVATOFQE I5

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PRESIDENTUS ADDRESS Tl-lE CHALLENGE OE YOUTH-Williom Anthony We now live in o period which presents o chollenge to the youth of this demo- crotic notion of ours. We ore stonding upon the threshold of responsible citizen- ship. The younger generotion is growing up in on ero of violent chonge ond reodjustment, born of wor ond destruction. Old stondords seem to hove vonished, no new stondords seem to hove developed. To those lovers of the post, there is o question in their minds os to whether the United Stotes con depend upon the twenty-one million boys ond girls to corry on ond improve upon the present doy situotion, Do those of the post reolly understond the immense responsibility which is to be shouldered by the youth of todoy? Just whot is our responsibility? ln yeors to come, some of us will teoch school, drive trucks, monoge ond monipulote businesses, stond in ossembly lines in foctories, report the news, ond obove oll, elect the leoders of our democratic government. Ours is the responsibility to corry on, ln the end the issue simplifies itself, This generotion is our generotion ond connot be onybody else's. The tosk of youth is not to orgue but to creote. Its opportunity is tremendous-nothing less thon the chonce to erect for itself in time its own stondords ond ideols. ln most periods the creotive desire of youth hos to fight repression ond prejudice. A distrocted world colls loudly todoy for leodership, The newspopers ond rodio hove soid ond ore soying thot the world of todoy hos not prospered of lote under the guidonce of on older generotion, The older generotion, therefore, hos no olternotive but to look to youth, with its undimmed visions ond potentiol power, to set it right. As o chollenge, youth hos occepted criticisms with the strong heroic spirit it hos olwoys hod. At present, Americo is focing one of its criticol situotions. Just how will youth contribute to remedy our notionol problems? At present thousonds upon thousonds hove willingly ond heroicolly left good positions to be o port of the greotest ormy in the world, while mony others hove discorded their cops ond gowns for khoki ond guns in order thot the world might be sofe for democrocy. We hove leorned whot rood to trovel, becouse we know where our weoknesses lie, ond how they moy be remedied. We hove leorned thot mistoken policies ore dongerous to democrocy. We occept the chollenge. We must put the universe in order, fight the forces of dorkness. lt is our duty to mointoin the strong notion thot our forefothers built. If our civilizotion ond our country ore to be endongered by sinister forces without ond within, we sholl combot these forces, we sholl bonish them. We do not promise immediote omeliorotion of present conditions. We ore riot sibyls or optimists, we do not perform or promise to perform the impossible. We do hove, however, o strong weopon with which to meet the situotion. Thot weopon is couroge. lt is not thot we hove couroge iust becouse we ore young. We must hove couroge, for without it, the world will collopse ond we sholl oll I7