Published May 1972 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd The Unsung Young That young people have something to say is a fact that has long been recognized in the United States. The problem is that too many social theorists, and too great a portion of the national media, have been listening to the wrong groups of young Americans. To be sure, when 100,000 college-age citizens demonstrate in the streets of Washington, their story should be told on newspaper pages and radio and television. It is an event worth media coverage. But what about the almost 2.4 million young Americans who belong to 4-H clubs throughout the country? These are young people who demonstrate constructively on a daily basis, taking part in community projects aimed at fighting pollution, protecting the quality of life, and conserving and developing our country's natural resources. There are 92,500 active 4-H clubs in the United States, including 35 permanent camps in West Virginia. Certainly, the activities of these young people deserve at least as much media recognition as do the radical Students for a Democratic Society. For all its radical rhetoric, the SDS has less than 30 active chapters across the country. Last year, each of the 92,500 4-H clubs participated in some anti-pollution project in local communities. In one Michigan county, a 4-H-sponsored Operation Clean-up collected 65 truckloads of trash from 200 miles of roadside. This effort received little or no national television exposure, or notice in national publications. The national media chose instead to concentrate its coverage on Earth Day, an idealistic-sounding name for an ecology demonstration that produced nothing constructive. In fact, the Earth Day demonstrator<> left almost 100 truckloads of trash in their wake. There are other commendable youth groups in America. The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, for instance, who for mere than a half century have been teaching citizenship and other leadership qualities to millions of young Americans. Yet, even with its 60-year record of achievement, the Boy Scouts receive less attention by far from the national media than do the SDS and other fly-by-night extremist groups. The burden of telling the true story of the vast majority of America's young people has fallen on the shoulders of local newspapers, television and radio stations. The local media have generally done a good job, and all Americans owe them a debt of gratitude for putting a proper perspective on the news of youth in our country. MAY 31 1972