A teacher who is so infantile as to scream at a tiny, frightened mouse,
even though it were a live one, should not blame the pupils for
indulging in less marked exhibitions of arrest of development.
Teachers meet pupils sanely on the play question when they sympathize
with their desire to play, but see clearly why and how these impulses
must be controlled for the child’s future good. Play is a good servant
but a poor master; no human being is more pitiful than the amusement
drunkard. Play in its right place is a wonderful renovator of health and
spirits; play in the wrong place stunts character and makes for
selfishness and littleness. The ideal teacher wants his pupils to play,
helps them to realize the great values that lie in play, but shows them
clearly that play must be indulged in at right times and places, and
rigidly excluded from work hours, except where it can be made to help on
the work. In short, he leads his pupils as they grow older to play with
reason and to plan play intelligently, rather than blindly to follow
impulses.