ABSTRACT
A theme of this book is the contrast between what young people themselves want and what governments believe they need; between young people’s own assessments of their circumstances and the official view. There are usually big differences. Accordingly, this chapter contrasts young people’s own leisure problems to which they want solutions with the government’s priorities. We shall see that these are completely different. No surprise here! However, the chapter opens with a review of how young people’s uses of leisure have changed since the mid-twentieth century, which leads into an examination of the main differences and divisions among young people at leisure today. The chapter then proceeds to compare current government priorities with young people’s own issues, and asks whose agenda is most likely to work. We shall see that leisure is an instance where young people tend to be wiser than their rulers.
