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The Playground

A First Aid to the Police Department
By H. Kay

N a recent issue of the Juvenile Court Record there appeared an article by L. E. Eubanks emphasizing the necessity of recreation for children as a part of home life. It is unfortunate, however, that in many of the homes of cities where the problem of juvenile delinquency is greatest the home life of the child and the exigencies of the family permit of little recreation and but a minimum of amusement. Crowded tenements, small apartments, the average size two story, six room dwelling of the working man preclude all possibility for amusement and play for children after "school hours" for their presence and the disturbance necessarily involved in the play of children make the life of the tired and nervous mother and the wornout toiler too uncomfortable to permit it.

With the home eliminated as a practical amusement center and play space for children, let us see what there is outside the home which can attract them and at the same time afford the proper recreation not calculated to break down moral and physical fabric.

Will the city streets offer a solution to the problem of providing play space? Perhaps, but the hazards of the street

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are daily greater. The increased use of Being Baptized "Clean Neighbors" in the

swift moving automobiles makes the streets unsafe. Nor is that all. In most cities it is "against the law" to play on the streets. The majority of cases appearing in Juvenile Courts are the result of violations of ordinances against play or congregation of children on streets and sidewalks.

But these facts are too potent to require further comment here. It is universally acknowledged that play for children is a necessity and that the healthy bodies and active minds of adults are the result of the vocational and recreational play of children.

If, then, play is a necessity, univer

Playground Running Pool

According to Major Pullman's statement, the police department and the playground are complementary. The one has as its main object the improvement of social conditions and the teaching of citizenship through the apprehension and punishment of violators of the law and offenders against the peace and comfort of the community. The other has as its purpose the teaching of citizenship, responsibility, and community spirit and the prevention of law violations by inculcating principles of honesty and fair play.

If there is necessity for police in large communities (necessity for a purely corrective organization) how much more need must there be of a playground system which is on the other hand a preventive organization. If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, playgrounds, then, are an economic as well as a social need.

The economic phase of the situation is seldom touched upon. But the saving is apparent when it is considered that, aside from the injury to the children themselves due to the dangers of street play, there is always a certain amount of injury to property as a concomitant of the street game.

When potential Ty Cobbs assemble for baseball in the streets, it is a matter of course that windows will be broken. Games of hide and seek, hare and hound, or even simple tag, if done in the street, involves the trampling of lawns and gardens adjacent thereto.

There is but one way to remedy this situation. All the legislation in the world cannot change boy nature and all the police in the universe cannot suppress boy energy. The solution is public play space where property will not be endangered.

Recognizing this fact, all of the great cities in the United States have well organized playground systems with carefully trained play leaders and vocation instructors. The playground movement, if it may be so called, has spread over the entire country so that there is scarcely a city with a population of over twenty-five thousand which does not have some form of playground enterprise.

In most instances the city government appropriates the money for the upkeep of these institutions. In other cases it is the result of the charitable impulses of philanthropic, public-spirited citizens.

For some time it was a popular idea that playgrounds were places for play alone. However, the purely play feature is but a small part of the playground curriculum. Perhaps the greatest advantage of the playground is the vocational work done there. Children are taught above everything else to be useful-to manipulate their fingers and become

adept at occupations which can not only fill their idle moments but can also redound to their benefit.

But the spirit of play-the free and unrestrained spirit of the American child -is never lost even in the most engrossing of tasks. The work is done by groups. It is an application of principles of mob psychology which cause boys even to forsake ball games for knitting and sewing.

This is no uncommon phenomenon. Johnny does what the "gang" does, and the result is that he soon learns to love even that work which he had once considered much "beneath him." One teacher on a Washington playground, who had a cooking class for girls, found herself besieged by boys of twelve and fourteen desirous to join the class and learn the art of preparing food. These same boys would just as readily have undertaken some mischievous or pernicious pursuit had it not been for the playground teacher who attracted their attention by something useful.

Training of children is like training of any other growing thing. There must be the proper environment-the proper air, light and physical necessities-if they are to become rugged and healthy. There must be some guiding hand if they are to grow upright and there must be some protecting influence against the dangers which beset them.

If, as is stated above, the records of the Juvenile Court are correct to the effect that 65 per cent of the cases of juvenile delinquency are due to street play, and if, as is universally maintained, mischief is the result of misdirected energy and lack of industrial and recreational occupation, then the problem of the Juvenile Court will be decreased in proportion as the number of playgrounds is augmented.

As someone has said, "No boy ever devised mischief in the middle of a baseball game, and if you would keep children out of mischief give them play and plenty of it."

Keep children out of mischief and you keep them out of the courts. The syllogism is perfect. Give children play and keep them out of the courts.

The playground is not a community luxury; it is a civic need.

HELP US MAKE 1917 A BANNER YEAR

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HILDREN PLACED IN HOMES.
CO-OPERATING WITH INSTI-
TUTIONS IN ALL THE STATES.

The Juvenile Court Record is

making an appeal to the families in the United States to open their hearts and their homes to children, and to give them that love for which their lonely little hearts have been longing and from which they have been deprived through no fault of their own.

Do not think that these children will be uncared for if you fail to meet this opportunity, for others will answer the call. The Juvenile Court Record is offering, not begging, and it is offering the most precious gift in all the world-that which money cannot buy and which longings cannot bring—a little child. Yours will be the loss if you fail to grasp this blessed opportunity of receiving one of these little ones in the name of the Master.

FOR

INFORMATION ADDRESS

THE JUVENILE COURT RECORD

CHILD-PLACING DEPT. HEARST BUILDING, CHICAGO (ENCLOSE STAMPED ENVELOPE)

ESTABLISHED 1899

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Published in the Interest of Handicapped, Dependent and Delinquent Children By Children's Charities, Inc.

Announcement

This paper is published to disseminate news and ideas helpful to Handicapped, Dependent and Delinquent Children

O less an authority than our own Census Bureau tells us

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that in this country alone-our own civilized U. S. A. —approximately 300,000 babies under one year of age die annually. Here's the part that hurts: One-half of these babies die needlessly. Just think, 150,000 babies under one year of age die annually, in this country alone, from preventable causes. Ignorance is what keeps the little white hearses working overtime. There is but one logical way to stop this "slaughter of the innocents." Educate the parents and guardians. Education is prevention and the best manner of educating the people is by publicity.

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