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I am one of the current yewtrdH^fc ♦
known as modem youth. That epithet
summarises a long list of misstfct#-.)
menu concerning us that I feel oore-
pelled to deny with a vehenutoa# i
echoed by my contemporaries. **Mod
em Youth"-for all iU simplkfttv is
a term meant to imply wfld life
in the raw, or rah, as |k : is so fre
quently punned.
All youth is and has been awxjerp,
for youth is the yardstick by which
is measured. Our title with all
iU'implications was coined by a gen-
which itself was young not
so long -qgo, and which would have
been jaanrngd had anyone suggettU-d
it was not iWqdem. That generation
includes our ntqthers and fattsrs^
Many of our parhqts have written
articles that have added impetus to
the unietrsal diMrussionNpf qyr com
plete lack of morals. I
Facts have been published
ing to prove our immorality. ' N Why
not look on these facts in their ftnati
light and admit their existanee since
the beginning of time. Fveryon*: til
the Bible is not wicked because that
book has told us of so many fast
women and lustful* men. All of Bal-
sac’s and De MaupaaaantV -worlU fUHi
not considered pure imagination, but
fiction based on experience. Th«* do
not prove the men and women of those
days all lascivious. They are a | por
trayal of but a portion of the people
of those days. Always there have been
those > who were tempted but were
strong enough to turn aside i Mmi
temptation, and those who were
strong enough to turn aside j tpw
temptation, and those who iUNHnj
tempted artd fell. The perxenLage has
not changed radically, but the ntnajl
her of those who will admit tefepta-'j
tion, even anonymously, has. We are
a frank lot—from the most angelhc
to the most diabolical.
«We are frank, and we are great
pretenders. We are the epitome of
Shakespeare’s “All the World's a
Stage.” We act with such Intensity
that many of us lose the true concep
tion of our roles, and sometimes even
forget we are acting. It is true, deyer-
the!ess, that we are the largest cant
ever to play in that most ribald of
all Rabelaisian episodes—“Mo<lem
Youth.” | [A jj
Many of our lamented weaknesses
are blamed on the demon drink, prink
ing ia an indispensible part ot any
representative gathering of ynuth. Wf
all take pride in being able to drink
properly (if indeed there is any
proper way to drink), but any ovef-
14 V
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decent Off Doutt]
By “lilac" dicta
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indulgence is severely frowned upon.
A continued tendency to become
“swanked” on all occasions is re
warded with ostracism. That is the
supreme penalty of youth, for not to
be one of the gang is an insurmount
able tragedy. / (
We drink, not for- the effect on our
senses, but for the effect on the '
vrorld. We have seen since first we ‘
mere j allowed to gq te plays and
picture shows of our own choosing '
that liquor has a prominent part in
life -of the American elite. We
^ave also read that this is true. Why
should we eschew what ia done by
this elite? Wp are as good as they.
It is, then, the normal thing to drink
—thai abnormal to abstain.
Vrap flw same iaurccn we have
•aqaitwd a freedom in our association
with , tha/. opposite sax that has
astounded oo j parents set them j
smxiotisly diicussing tjbis situation
with their fr ends From this discus
sion have si rung; M] articles and i
statistics propounding the shocking
truth of our corruption But we are
not immortal. We sin to this extent: a
casual manner in mixed company;
quite a bit of risque talk; and a great
pretense of sophistry’ that fixxlea ihto
a cautious reserve at the approach of
the flame called passion.
Our parties are not the Bacchanal
ian ravels attributed to us. Neither are
the neputed orgies of squashing or
ipPttag. They are carefree gatherings
consisting of numerous spiked jokes
j(aal44p- «K*Ma4 the little pup
named Stokawsky because he was the
pianiet), and a round of dancing which
includes several 'fi*rlem-born swing
numbers no more harmful thanftthe
.square dances of j yesterday. All this,
is interspersed ' nth cocktails and
highballs takeij discreetly. These
parties are gradw Jly ravelled out by
couples, sometimes two or three to a
car, wending their ways slowly home
ward.
I will not deny the love-making that
takes’place then. I will admit it to be
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quitje general. But 1 will deny that it
is promiscuous. It b what we feel to
be the normal result of a deep emo
tion, but when it b happening it b
genuine. I am certain there are, in
proportion, no more ears today park- !
ed in secluded places than there were
buggies in the same seclusion in our
parents’ daya.,
<>ui colleges are constantly labelled
nests of passion where contracep
tives have as prominent a place in
girls’ purses as cigarets. Sexual ex
perience before marriage is supposed
to play a prominent part in college
life. If one believea all the articles
written on this score, to admit having
been graduated from an American co
educational college is to admit having
been a part, however innocent, of an
educational brothel. This is not true.
In college all classes of people are
mingled. Naturally among them will
be those who have no more morab
than a cat. Solomoa valued a virtuous
woman above rubies. That does not
mean all the women af hia day were
harlots, -and though many students
betray prurient tendencies, college life
as *| whole is clean mmI virtue is still
valued highly. Wt denounce these
associates of ours who are imprudent;
we do not object to others denounc
ing them; but we do object to being
classified with them.
Our colossal pretentions are what
has gotten us into hot water. In an
attempt to show our worldly wisdom
we have forgotten to avoid all ap
pearance of evil. That b from the
Bible. We have been told that most
of it is just beautiful legend. We pre
tend to be agnostics. But we ! rtrdp»|
the Bible, most of us shame-faced) y
and in private. We honor the churches
though we seldom attend. Ask our
opinion of religion and you will like
ly receive the scoffing answer you
expect It will not be the truth.
I am not attempting to make us ap
pear saints. We are not saints, and
we are not sinners. We are normal,
healthy-minded young people, and we
have been maligned by a generation
that has .forgotten it was normally
youthful only recently.
We are as decent a generation as
there has ever been. Chastity to us is
- as sacred as it was to any of our an
cestors, and just as prevalent.
We are the same youth that has
headed every generation, but a youth
which instead of trhispering uses a
normal tone of voice to wonder and
express ideas about its newly begun
illreputed voyage on the sea of lift
We are moral and chaste.
♦
THE BATTAMON
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