Brockton High School - Brocktonia Yearbook (Brockton, MA)

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Another trait common to youth is emotional instability. The young person is liable to be influenced too greatly by a false sense of values and matters of rela- tive unimportance, such as parties and clothes. Naturally it pays to be well- groomed, but we must not place too much emphasis on the old saying that Fine feathers make fine birds. Many times, the younger members of a family sulk because they lack the appropriate clothes for the party it would break their hearts not to attend. This type of young person is apt to be over-sensitive to well-meant rebukes concerning his excessive interest in social affairs, forgetting that a friend's frown is better than a foolfs frown. He or she must be careful not to be influenced by false standards, simply to obtain the wrong kind of popularity. Let us also remember that, although here and there we may find an ungrateful youth who has a tendency to be ashamed of his parents' clothes or home, parents often lack luxuries merely because of sacrifices they have glad- ly made for their often unappreciative children! Besides, folks who are im- pressed by a person's fine clothes, or wealth, or social prestige, and who pay no attention to the individual's character or brain or soul, are superficial thinkers who will not be our real friends, if We lose our money or worldly rank. One must also realize the value of making friends-not to use them for self-aggrandize- ment, but for one's own spirit. Then there is youth's tendency to be satisfied with mediocre standards of achievement. Youth is sometimes unwilling to make any strenuous effort to exert himself or improve his condition, relying instead, on luck, or someone's influence. Many pupils in any graduating class could have improved their scholastic grades by refusing to let their homework slide. That same careless attitude will follow through life, in all probability. The unambitious person will never give his whole-hearted energies to his own, or to his employers interests. He is fundamentally lazy, preferring to drift, rather than to row upstream. He is forgetting Rudyard Kipling's famous promise, lf you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds of distance run, yours is the earth and everything that's in it, and what is more, you'll be a man, my son. The last liability which l shall mention today concerns the root of all evil, money. Sometimes young folks earning their first dollars and lured by the prospect of wealth, hesitate to spend small amounts to purchase necessities or gifts for loved ones, except on formal occasions, such as anniversaries, birthdays, and holi- days. But the thoughtful token which is presented unexpectedly, is worth double the pleasure that comes with an expected gift. And always there is the need to be charitable. It is well to remember the story of the man who, every day of his life, gave some silver to a needy person because he felt that such generosity strengthened his own character, and prevented him from dveloping a spirit of greediness. Now that we have finished painting a fairly dark picture of youth, let us look briefly at some assets that members of a graduating class possess. Certainly youth has an endless supply of vitality, enthusiasm, courage, and adventure. At all times he is ready to take a risk for the benefit of others. War-time air-force commanders point out that youthful pilots exposed themselves to the greatest 13

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I ni , ' Tug, l ' f 1 ' - V by Q .. -V Ha, Q 425 U ,, qv ,. - NJ - f iw 'il' 'fi ' 2 Q U , 53- rg M' . 2,1 M .Q li Wu Q, V ' 5, Vina' ' 159' 5505. Q65 fgropfie fa Dressed in loria robes arid holding a crystal ball are lean Brides, George Cormier, Mary Costello, Iames Green, Carilyri Pierce, Marilyn Pierce, Beverly Siscoe, arid Roberi Marx, the Class Prophets. Will their prophecies be realized? 15