Someday is Now and That Somebody is You

" My answer is this: Go home and mow the lawn...."

- Judge Phillip B. Gilliam

Juvenile Court Judge

Recently a friend posted a newspaper clipping on Facebook that got my attention and caused me to do a bit more research as to who wrote it and why.  My discovery was encouraging and I believe timely.  We spend so much time getting angry at our young people for being unmotivated and unproductive.  Our answer has been to give them more and more and hope they will change.  It does not work, and, as research shows, it never has.

               In 1959, I know that seems like a million years ago to some, there was an open letter posted in the South Bend Tribune by a Judge Phillip B. Gilliam.  Judge Gilliam was a an active juvenile court Judge from 1940 to his death in 1970.  His letter came as a response to young people who wanted to be told where they can go hang out and what can they do.  Today our response would be to blame the community for their bad behavior because they did not build a youth center or provide activities for them to do.  I believe Judge Gilliam's response is as timely for today as it was in 1959.

Open letter to Teen-ager

Always we hear the plaintive cry of the teen-ager. What can we do?...Where can we go?

The answer is GO HOME!

Hang the storm windows, paint the woodwork. Rake the leaves, mow the lawn, shovel the walk. Wash the car, learn to cook, scrub some floors. Repair the sink, build a boat, get a job.

Help the minister, priest, or rabbi, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army. Visit the sick, assist the poor, study your lessons. And then when you are through - and not too tired - read a book.

Your parents do not owe you entertainment. Your city or village does not owe you recreational facilities.

The world does not owe you a living...You owe the world something.

You owe it your time and your energy and your talents so that no one will be at war or in poverty or sick or lonely again.

Grow up; quit being a crybaby. Get out of your dream world and develop a backbone, not a wishbone, and start acting like a man or a lady.

You're supposed to be mature enough to accept some of the responsibility your parents have carried for years.

They have nursed, protected, helped, appealed, begged, excused, tolerated and denied themselves needed comforts so that you could have every benefit. This they have done gladly, for you are their dearest treasure.

But now, you have no right to expect them to bow to every whim and fancy just because selfish ego instead of common sense dominates your personality, thinking and request.

In Heaven's name, grow up and go home!

- South Bend Tribune, Sunday, Dec. 6, 1959.

               I believe that taking this kind of responsibility for ourselves is just as much needed for adults and it is for our youth.  I am so grateful that there are those who are once again turning away from the nanny state and taking charge of their lives, the lives of their children and the belief in the American dream.

My thanks to the Pierce County Tribune for publishing this letter in full.  Read the article for yourself at the link below:

- See more at: http://www.thepiercecountytribune.com/page/content.detail/id/501139/No-holds-barred-message-to-teens.html?nav=5011#sthash.i1X493Rh.dpuf

To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business or group, visit our website at http://www.growthcenter.net or www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   © 2014 John Patrick Hickey