SIR,—As an Anglican curate who has worked for three years
in a club for 'Teddy boys,' may I add a comment on the correspondence between Mr. Penry Jones and Mr. Peter Forster in the Spectator for June 5.
From my experience, Mr. Forster is right in suggesting that the young people in the programme appear rather an advanced lot, but I have discussed this point with Mr. Jones and he points out that he must have at least articulate people to produce, and they must be able to think for themselves before a TV camera. Having sent club members for TV auditions, and seen how the most intelligent and assured are reduced to incoherence when they actually are on the screen, I think we have to allow the producer to overcome his difficulties as he can.
The value of Sunday Break as an aid to the work of the churches is obvious to my mind. In the first place, the young people who watch it would certainly not go to church, and secondly, if they did, they would find it as remote from their own world, and therefore as uninteresting as Mr. Forster finds theirs from his point of view. The real difficulty we all face is the totally dissimilar culture patterns of ordinary young people and those who have been ecclesiastically indoctrinated from school or home. Before these two worlds can begin to understand each other, we have to build a lot of bridges so that at least we may meet. It seems to me that Sunday Break is the uniquely successful attempt we have seen so far.—
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