In Other Lands
| Published date | 01 January 1949 |
| Date | 01 January 1949 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455054900501903 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
249
IN
OTHER
LANDS
THE
WORK
OF THE
DANISH
YOUTH
COMMISSION
During
the
war
there
arose
everywhere
in
Denmark,
in
towns
as
well
as
in
the
country,
a
greater
interest
in
and
a
better
understanding
of
the
problems
of
young
people
than
had
so
far
been
the
case.
The
solidarity
which
manifested
itself
in
the
Danish
people
among
the
various
classes
of
society
led
everybody
to
realise-not
least
in
consequence
of
the
contribution
made
by
the
young
people
towards
the
struggle
for
liberty-that
these
problems
must
be
taken
up
for
consideration
in
post-
war
Denmark
with
a
view
to
a
solution
of
the
most
urgent
problems.
During
the
war
municipalities
throughout
the
country
formed
municipal
youth
committees
to
work
at
and
try
to
solve
the
special
problems
of
young
people.
These
youth
committees
comprised
only
a
very
limited
circle
of
people
having
a
professional
knowledge
of
the
various
questions:
spare-time
problems,
educational
matters,
athletics,
etc.
They
were
representatives
of
the
different
branches
of
the
youth
movement
and
of
the
administra-
tion.
In
the
joint
council
of
youth,
also
formed
all
over
Denmark
during
the
war,
sat,
on
the
other
hand,
the
leaders
and
representatives
of
the
youth
organisations
only,
trying
to
solve
the
many
problems
common
to
all
young
people
irrespective
of
their
political
and
religious
opinion
or
their
vocation.
Appointment
of
the
Ministries’
Youth
Commission
After
the
liberation
in
1945
strong
demands
were
advanced
from
various
quarters
for
a
more
intense
effort
to
solve
the
problems
of
the
young
people,
and
at
the
request
of
the
Labour
and
Social
Ministries
a
Youth
Commission
was
appointed
with
Professor
Hal
Koch,
D.D.,
President
of
the
Danish
Youth
Association,
as
chairman.
The
Youth
Commission,
which
was
to
be’ a
kind
of
youth
parliament,
was
composed
of
representatives
of
the
various
political,
cultural,
and
vocational
youth
organisa-
tions,
and
of
the
ministries
concerned
and
other
branches
of
the
administration.
The
Commission
appointed
a
number
of
committees
which
were
to
work
at
the
several
more
special
problems,
and
which
called
in
experts
for
this
purpose.
The
work
of
the
Youth
Commission
is
performed
&dquo; (1)
in
order
to
inquire
into
the
problems
and
needs
of
the
young
people
and
(2)
on
this
basis
to
make
suitable
proposals
for
improvements.&dquo;
The
general
procedure
adopted
in
these
inquiries
is
that
of
broad
and
thorough-
going
analyses
of
certain
groups
of
young
people
through
oral
and
written
replies
to
comprehensive
questionnaires
which
are
later
dealt
with
statistically
by
the
bodies
interested.
The
problems
that
are
taken
up
throw
light
on
all
aspects
of
the
political,
social,
and
cultural
condition
of
the
young
people
of
to-day.
The
work
of
the
Commission,
whose
results
are
presented
in
a
number
of
reports
on
the
several
questions,
is
not
expected
to
be
complete
until
some
time
in
1949.
Migration
from
Country
to
Town
In
a
report
on
the
special
problems
of
migrating
young
people
the
Youth
Commission
has
decided
on
the
attitude
to
adopt
towards
one
of
the
most
difficult
problems
of
to-day:
that
of
the
migration
of
young
people
from
the
country
to
the
town.
Most
of
the
young
people
who
came
to
the
capital
for
the
sake
of
education
had
beforehand
tackled
the
problems
of
change
of
residence,
had
found
somewhere
to
live,
etc.
For
them
one
of
the
problems
has
been
how
to
arrange
their
spare-time
activities
so as
not
to
feel
too
abruptly
the
transition
from
country
to
town
and
the
detachment
from
the
environments
they
have
had
to
leave.
Thus
it
was
hoped
to
avoid
the
many
social
conflicts
arising
.where
the
young
person
is
out
of
contact
with
his
original
home
as
well
as
his
new
place
of
work
and
left
to
idle
about
rootlessly
in
the
large
city.
The
many
young
people
who
betake
themselves
to
the
capital
out
of
sheer
love
of
adventure
seldom
meet
the
demands
for
maturity
which
an
indepen-
dent
life
in
the
city
makes
on
the
individual.
Many
of
these
rootless
new
arrivals
gradually
develop
asocial
tendencies:
misdemeanours
are
committed,
men
steal,
and
women
become
prostitutes.
Of
558
prostitutes
whose
circumstances
were
closely
examined
422
proved
to
be
under
25
years
of
age,
and
out
of
these
77
per
cent.
were
born
outside
Copenhagen.
The
risk of
asocial
ten-
dencies
always
proved
far
greater
in
the
case
of
new
arrivals
than
with
the
young
people
bred
in
Copenhagen,
and
it
is
greatest
during
the
year
of
arrival.
These
young
people
are
led
astray
first
of
all
through
the
fluctuating
possibilities
of
income
prevailing
in
the
post-war
period,
and
not
least
through
the
housing
problem:
they
are
unable
to
obtain
rooms,
and
they
cannot
afford
to
pay
the
high
rent
demanded
by
self-appointed
&dquo;
lodging-hotels
&dquo;.
In
Copenhagen
there
are
9
hostels
in
all
with
sleeping
accommodation
for
685
persons,
where
a
bed
for
the
night
is
obtainable
at
a
nominal
charge,
and
there
are
4
working-homes
accommodating
102
persons,
offering
both
night-lodging
and
board
in
return
for
work.
The
hostels
are
partly
municipal,
partly
run
by
various
religious
organisations.
However,
their
importance
is
not
so
great
as
is
to
be
desired,
the
reason
being
that
most
homeless
persons
prefer
to
spend
the
night
in
railway-
carriages,
staircases,
and
on
board
steam-tugs
rather
than
in
the
hostels,
partly
because
of
their
large
dormi-
tories,
where
young
and
old
(often
drunkards)
sleep
together,
and
where
the
opening
and
closing
hours
must
be
strictly
observed
and
cannot
be
adjusted
to
displaced
hours
of
work,
partly
because
the
young
persons
do
not
want
the
contact
with
the
authorities
which
is
a
condition
for
staying
at
a
hostel.
Several
raids
on
persons
spending
the
night
in
railway-
carriages,
in
which
also
representatives
of
the
Youth
Commission
took
part,
proved
that
of
these
young
persons
many
were
of
a
better
quality
than
those
staying
in
the
hostels;
they
had
regular,
paid work,
but
were
simply
victims
of
the
housing
shortage.
Among
the
organisations
working
for
the
young
new-
comers
may
be
mentioned
the
Copenhagen
High
School
Association,
the
Y.M.C.A.,
which
seeks
personal
contact
with
the
young
people
who
have
left
a
provincial
branch,
and
the
youth
clubs
proper,
which
through
lectures,
study
circles,
etc.,
seek
to
gather
the
people.
But
the
youth
clubs
are
too
few
compared
with
the
number
of
young
people,
and
they
are
not
supported
financially
by
the
public,
a
fact
which
seriously
hampers
their
work,
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