n my vocabulary, the often used concept of comparing of an easy task to child's play is a misnomer. Child's play is work involving a learning process, continuous development of skills, both, physical and mental. An adult, subjected to the same trials would be considered as upgrading his or her skills.

Respect for young people must include our understanding that they are people in transition, learning new skills, growing and strengthening their bodies, developing cognitive powers, learning to overcome adversity and, eventually, take our place in the theme of things. It is our responsibility to teach and guide these apprentices through the maze of our own knowledge while avoiding the pitfalls of our own errors. We must open the world to them rather than shackle them to our prejudices as stated facts. Hopefully,, following this course, our descendants will be better people than we are.

Shielding young people from harm should not be tantamount to chaining them. Philately, in this context, while taken seriously, should be applied to young people considering their various levels of capabilities. Subjecting, at an early age, to regimentation will have the respondent turned away from the hobby. At early ages, arbitrarily assigned to those under 13, stamps and postal documents should be introduced as materials, building blocks of a project.

Stamps mixed with other media, defying philatelic orthodoxy, are acceptable as long as both deal with the subject at hand. Emphasis, in guiding these people, should be on cleanliness and accuracy with a gradual introduction to philatelic terms and rules. Some of the more advanced collectors, in this group, should be encouraged to enter local exhibitions where an appraisal of their work will find sympathetic guidance rather than a severe critique. With a fuller understanding of the principles of exhibiting, a young person will be ready to enter the ranks of junior philatelists and follow the rules of philatelic specialties.

Formulating and planning a Youth Commission was begun by FIP in 1954. In 1958 the Commission came into being. Its first President, Mr. Hartwig Danesch, defined the new body, in his inaugural speech, in these terms: "Youth Philately is not a separate segment of philately like, perhaps, thematic philately or air mail philately,¡¦rather that it merely deals with a classification by age, which as far as collecting is concerned extends into all fields of philately."

The 1954 formulation of the Age Groups was based on universal academic criteria demonstrated through a person's ability to express his or her views, identify and analyze a point of view, knowledge of mathematics, etc.::
     Age Group "A": 13 to 15 years old
     Age Group "B": 16 to 17 years old
     Age Group "C": 18 to 19 years old
     Age Group "D": 20 to 21 years old

Recent advances in technology and educational techniques prompted a study in depth of the above configurations. As a result, the Commission is recommending to the 66-th F.I.P. Congress in Madrid (held in October, 2000) to change the four groups into three to reflect current educational and employment realities. The new groups will be assembled as follows:
     Age Group "A": 13 to 15 years old; remains unchanged
     Age Group "B": 16 to 18 years old; adding 18 years old to former
                            Group "B"
     Age Group "C": 19 to 21 years old; a new formulation

This configuration will, in effect, eliminate to old Group "D" and create a new Group "C" incorporating 19, 20, 21 years old into one. This will reflect the reality of 19 years old and younger entering the work force and institutions of higher learning.

Provisions were made for those under 13, considered advanced, to enter international exhibitions within the Age Group "A" cognizant of the fact that they will be subject to restrictions on future advancement as is prescribed by F.I.P. Rules.

F.I.P. youth judges, until recently, came from the ranks of philatelists trained in the field as youth workers and advisers. Their understanding of the young mind. blended with experience in a chosen philatelic field, is unassailable. As of late, however, future international judges come into the fold with little or no experience working with the young on their collections. This phenomenon can be explained when one becomes aware of the sophistication and breadth of youth exhibits. Once confined ,mainly to thematics and traditional philately, the new young collectors enter postal history, air mail and, yes, even revenues. The new judges are, usually, recruited at national exhibitions to judge a youth exhibit in their chosen specialty and through sheer fascination of what they see become involved in the complete field. These people are a definite asset to the whole area of philately, junior and senior, being able to prepare our young for the senior classes. Cross-accreditation further enriches the judging corps, one of the best trained in any exhibition.

In order to make sure that the new youth judges are adequate to the task, the F.I.P. Commission, in addition to the usual F.I.P. requirements, attached its own requirements. These requirements expect from the aspirant a minimum of two years experience on the national level and attending a hands-on seminar. This culminates in an examination which one must pass before becoming an apprentice in the youth class. Being a youth judge is very demanding, much like child's play it requires constant growth, vigilance and improvement. The success of this rather severe regimen can be seen in the results achieved by former juniors entering senior exhibitions where they qualify for vermeil and large vermeil medals. We have even seen a few of our "graduates" obtaining gold medals on both, the national and international levels.

Today we have a new phenomenon: internet and e-mail. Where computers have initially cut into leisure time available to young collectors, these new technological advances have begun to reverse the trend. Young people, particularly in developed area, correspond with each other, exchange views and bring life back to their collections. It is becoming an increasingly important area for the F.I.P. Commission for Youth Philately and subject for an in-depth study. A soon to be installed web-site will be a tremendous help in our work to educate and advance young philatelists.

There are 56 countries, according to latest data, involved actively in youth philately. Activities range from guiding young collectors in their chosen fields to stratified programs. These programs divide young people into groups, from novices to the various levels of advancement. A member of a group, in order to advance from one level to another must take part in their levels exhibitions and achieve a certain medalliccc value. This type of program depends heavily on a dedicated corps of volunteers, is usually within a free-standing youth organization, often supported by a national organization and benefiting from cooperation with national postal authorities.

In the stratified system, young collectors have the benefit of an organized program, acting much like a classroom. The young collectors learn their skills as a group and an imprint of this type of teaching can be traced to all the exhibits from a given system. This fosters an internal competition for more difficult subjects or better explanations of a subject rather than personal technical interpretation. The rules of composition, in these exhibits, are faithfully observed.

A common type of instruction given young collectors is on the club level with senior philatelists counseling the juniors. In this system, a young philatelist receives the benefit of years of experience and, likely, tutoring in a specialized field. There is less technical training and an increased requirement for personal input by the young philatelist. This system is used mainly in smaller communities and in less organized areas. The young collector has, therefore, less exposure to his or her peers and less competition on home turf. It is this group that generates most of the philatelic correspondence and stamp exchanges by mail. Whether it is through the internet, e-mail, or postal correspondence, they reach their peers and maintain an interest in collecting.

In the last few years we have encountered yet another player. Several countries, interested in promoting philately, rely on invited guests to present seminars and train youth workers. These workers are not always stamp collectors, in the conventional sense of the word, but are well versed in all the intricacies and rules of the game. This is the most interesting entry into the training field and one that is achieving astounding results. This method is a combination of home study, distance study and tutelage. The young collectors involved in it are avid correspondents, always eager for information. Those privileged to have presented seminars to these people are simply amazed at the depth of knowledge and maturity of the young collectors and the devotion of their tutors. Many of the highest junior awards, in the past three years, have come from this group.

One of the most frequently asked questions concerns the future of youth philately in our changing world. Human beings have been always gatherers. Evolving into an urban society has changed the scope of this activity but not the genetic influence. This will, undoubtedly, continue to evolve.

The changing moral values in the global society are bound to influence not only philately but all the phases of human life. We have seen, initially, a drop in collecting habits with the spread of material challenges following the end of the Second World War. Those that continued have actually strengthened the field through study and research. Young people raised in affluent homes, in the industrial countries, had one thing in common with their impoverished peers in developing countries: sports. Collecting, albeit on a diminished scale, continued. Technological developments have further influenced our behaviour and habits,. Yet, it is more difficult today to obtain a place in an international exhibition than it ever was.

Technological changes, a decade ago, caused yet another drop in young collectors coming into the fold only to be surpassed today by further advancements in electronic communications.

We have seen that countries without their own cadres of collectors not only found a way to bring philately in but have even excelled at it. Youth philately, today, is alive and well.

The collecting roller-coaster of very young people collecting, maturing and becoming junior collectors is familiar to all of us. A departure from philately on entering the work force or a school of higher education is a reality we all know well. Eventually, a proportion of these people, established in their occupations, return to philately. I have to be optimistic that this pattern will not change and possibly improve.

Youth philately, to echo and paraphrase my erstwhile mentor, Hartwig Danesch, only differs from senior classes in age classifications. Youth philately is intrinsically tied to the senior classes, we have a common future.

Please allow me, at this point, to draw your attention, once again, to the resiliency of the world's youth and their ability to perform and even surpass expectations. Succeeding generations, ours including, have been punctuated with destructive attitudes and wars. Let us trust that our descendants will build a better world, not only philatelically but also physically and morally.