Office of the Historian

139. Memorandum From the Director of the U.S. Information Agency to Attorney General Kennedy1

Washington, August 22, 1962.

SUBJECT

  • Youth Programs and Problems in 92 Countries

To tackle our problems with youth abroad, we felt it was necessary to know what is specifically “bugging them” on the country-by-country basis; what, if anything, USIA is doing about it; and what more, if anything, we can do about it.

We now have returns on a questionnaire designed to give the answers from 92 countries (out of the 101 where USIA operates), which are summarized in the attached report.2 The findings confirm some of our previous conclusions, but also gave us some surprises. Example (on page 2): Intellectual restrictions imposed by the government do not seem to be a major source of frustration among youth, as many of us had previously believed.

The world-wide conclusions give some valuable information. We are using it and the individual country returns to recast our programs to meet insofar as possible the specific needs now identified. I shall give you some specifics in a few weeks.

Edward R. Murrow3
  1. Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 306, USIA Files: FRC 68 A 4933, Policy and Plans-Genl. (IOP)/62. Official Use Only.↩
  2. Entitled “Youth and Students,” not printed.↩
  3. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩