THE COMMUNITY'S PLAY AND RECREATION
The people of most rural communities have an unsatisfied desire for more
play, recreation, and sociable life. Opportunities for enjoyment seem
more available in the towns and cities and are therefore a leading cause
of the great exodus. Economic prosperity and good wages are not alone
sufficient to keep people on farms and in villages if their income will
not purchase the satisfactions they desire. To a certain extent many of
these advantages of the town and city can be brought to the rural
community, but only when country people come to appreciate and develop
those forms of play and recreation which are possible and adapted to
their conditions, and when they are willing to afford ample facilities
and opportunity for the play of their children, will the lure of the
city be checked. With such a changed attitude the rural community need
have no fear of the competition of the city. It may not be able to have
as fine commercial amusements, but it can have the best sort of play and
recreation at small cost, for which the cities incur large expense.
There is a peculiar need for a better understanding of the place of play
and recreation in the open country at the present time. Formerly large
families gave better opportunity for the children of one family to play
together, and there were more children of similar ages at the district
school of the neighborhood. To-day with farms farther apart and fewer
children, farm children do not have sufficient opportunity to play
together in groups. The better opportunity for group play and team
games is one of the advantages of the consolidated school which has been
too little appreciated.
We have seen that one of the obvious necessities for the economic
progress of agriculture is that its business be conducted on a
cooperative basis. The chief obstacle to cooperation is the
individualism of the farmer. The training of boys and girls in team
games, in which they learn loyalty to the group and to subordinate
themselves to the winning of the team, will do much to change this
attitude. Boys who play baseball and basketball together, who are
associated in boy scouts and agricultural clubs, will be much quicker to
cooperate, for they grow up with an attitude of loyalty to the team
group as well as to their own family.
Again, the awkwardness and self-consciousness of the country youth in
comparison with his city cousin is due to no inherent inferiority, for
in a few years he often out-strips him, but it is the direct result of
his lack of social contacts. Personality develops through social life,
through the give and take of one personality with another, through
imitation, and the acquirement of a natural ease of association with
others. The country boy and girl who has had the advantage of
association with larger groups in the consolidated school or high school
tends to become quite the social equal of the city child.
Heretofore many people, and particularly farm people, have regarded play
and recreation for adults as more or less frivolous or unnecessary,
while for children play has been used as an award for good conduct or
hard work, but it has by no means been deemed a necessary phase of the
child's life. If Johnnie does all his chores or if Mary washes the
dishes and dusts the furniture faithfully, the opportunity for play is
held up as a reward for services rendered; but that time for play and
proper kinds of play are essential for a child's education has only
recently been established by the students of child psychology and is
not, as yet, generally appreciated either by parents or teachers.
It is often said that this is the "age of the child," in that our
civilization is more largely shaped by a desire to give our children the
best possible advantages. We have come to appreciate, thanks to the
insight of such philosophers as John Fiske,[58] that the advancement of
the human race has been very largely due to the prolongation of the
period of infancy. Ordinarily we think of play as an attribute of
childhood, but as an incident rather than as a fundamental reason for
the prolongation of childhood. Most modern students of child psychology,
however, will take the view of Karl Gross,[59] an authority on the play
of man and animals, who says: "Children do not play because they are
young; they are young in order that they may play." Play is a normal
process of the child's growth through spontaneous activity. Joseph Lee,
the president of the Playground and Recreation Association of America,
goes so far as to say: "Play is thus the essential part of education. It
is nature's prescribed course. School is invaluable in forming the child
to meet actual social opportunities and conditions. Without the school,
he will not grow up to fit our institutions. Without play he will not
grow up at all.[60]
I do not mean that a child should have no responsibilities, for that is
the misfortune of the city child, but it is important to recognize the
truth of old adage that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,"
which modern psychology has given a scientific basis. One of the most
fundamental needs for the promotion of play in rural communities is to
secure a new attitude toward it on the part of many parents. Too
frequently--and alas, often from necessity--children are compelled to do
too much farm labor. Agriculture is still a family industry, and very
often on the poorer farms the older children seem to be considered
chiefly as an economic asset. Overwork and little or no time to satisfy
the innate tendency of children to play, inevitably produces a dislike
of farm life and is one of the most obvious reasons why many of them
leave the farm as soon as possible.
Many parents have forgotten how to play and have lost the "feel" of it.
It is important for them to play themselves in order to appreciate the
needs of their children, and to have a real sympathy with them. Picnics,
play festivals, and sociables, at which every one is compelled to "get
into the game," are valuable for this purpose. Many a man recovers his
youth in a picnic baseball game. Others have never had much play in
their own lives and do not appreciate its value for the best development
of their children. Play festivals or demonstrations and local athletic
meets in which their children participate may appeal to their parental
pride. Furthermore, when such play days are community affairs, they give
the sanction of public opinion to the games played and to those
participating in them. The play idea is popularized.
_Play in the Home._--Although the small family does not furnish
opportunity for group games, which are necessary for the satisfaction
both of children and adults, yet the movement for better play facilities
for the community should not overlook the fact that the home is the
fundamental social institution of rural life and that play and
recreation in the home are essential to its success and happiness. Home
games bind the family together, and parents who play with their
children find it much easier to secure and maintain their confidence.
The community may well give attention to the encouragement of games and
play in the homes as well as in the community gatherings. We need a
definite movement on the part of pastors, teachers, and especially by
such organizations as granges and farm and home bureaus for the
promotion of play by young and old in the farm home.
_Influence of the Automobile._--One of the values of the automobile is
that by its use many a farmer has been given a new realization of the
value of recreation. The new desire for recreation thus created is a
great gain for farm life. There is no reason why the farmer and his
family should not have as much enjoyment of life as town and city
people, and if they cannot, then only the poorer class of people will
remain on the farms. Occasionally one hears a commercial salesman or
some city business man decrying the effect of automobiles on farmers,
claiming that they are neglecting their work while chasing around the
country having a good time. Doubtless in occasional instances this is as
true of the farmer as it is of the townsman, but such farmers will soon
come to their senses or get off the farm, and even were there a general
tendency of this sort in some communities it must be regarded as the
temporary excitement of a new experience. On the other hand, the
breaking down of the old stolidity which dominated many a farmer who had
become so accustomed to work day in and day out that he was hardly happy
when he had a chance for recreation, and the creation of a wholesome
desire for a larger experience and more association with others, is one
of the largest gains in country life and will not only raise the
standards of living, but will be a potent incentive for better
agricultural methods. There can be no progress without a certain amount
of dissatisfaction. Contentedness has its virtues, but it may
degenerate into inertia and the death of all desire for better life.
On the other hand, the automobile and trolley have made it possible for
farm people to easily reach the towns and there attend movies and other
commercial amusements and to take part in the social life of the town
and city. This may weaken the social life of the rural community, and it
also tends to make rural people imitate the forms of play, recreation,
and social life of the city, which are not necessarily best suited to
rural life. When rural people come to appreciate that those forms of
play and recreation which are native or are adapted to the country have
many advantages over those of their city cousins, and in many ways may
have higher values and satisfactions, they will give more heed to
developing those which are most suitable for their enjoyment. Because
various kinds of expensive play apparatus are desirable for the small
playground of the city, which is crowded with hundreds of children, is
no reason why similar apparatus should be thought necessary for the
school-yard of the rural school. Many of the present tendencies of
recreation in cities are but revivals of rural customs which are
receiving new recognition because they appeal to that which is innate in
human nature. What is community singing but a variation of the
old-fashioned singing school? Folk-dancing originated in the country as
an expression of the activities of every-day life, and should be
encouraged everywhere. Dramatics and pageantry are native to the
countryside. The fair and festival are rural institutions.
_Commercial Amusements; Moving Pictures._--A certain form of recreation
may be secured through amusements which involve mere passive
participation upon the part of the spectators, as in various
entertainments, dramatics, etc. As long as those giving the
entertainment are local people, friends or relatives, the audience takes
a more or less sympathetic part in the performance and is not actuated
solely by the desire to purchase pleasurable sensations as is the case
with commercial amusements. I mean by commercial amusements those which
are operated solely for profit, whose advantages the individual
purchases for his own pleasure rather than with any idea of
participating in a group activity. Commercial amusements have their
place and may be of great benefit, but they are largely an
individualistic form of enjoyment and tend to make the spectator
increasingly dependent upon passive pleasurable sensations, and do not
have the social value of those forms of play in which one actively
participates as a member of a group.
Although commercial amusements have these limitations, yet they have
very real values which might be secured for many rural communities if
they were operated on a cooperative basis by the people themselves
rather than merely for profit by an individual. Motion pictures are now
the most popular form of commercial amusement and have unlimited
possibilities when operated for the good of the community rather than
for profit alone. It is now possible to secure relatively cheap
projection outfits and electric plants, so that many small communities
are now operating their own motion picture shows. In many places this is
one of the leading attractions at the community building and is a source
of revenue for its maintenance. In such places the motion picture
entertainment is becoming a sort of family affair, and when it can be so
operated as to secure the attendance of the family as a group the
objectionable features will soon disappear. Indeed, there is a
well-organized effort on the part of certain motion picture firms to
supply films for just this type of entertainments. Moreover, the
picture show may possibly be supplemented with other features which will
make a more attractive evening's entertainment, especially in small
places where it is practicable to operate but one show during an
evening. During the war community singing was tried at the opening and
between reels in many movie houses with conspicuous success, and should
be encouraged wherever suitable leadership can be secured. The speeches
of the "four-minute" men were also an innovation which might well be
tried further in a modified form. Would not a four-minute speech on some
current topic by a live speaker, given in an uncontroversial manner, be
a welcome feature of the movie show between reels, and an effective
means of educating public opinion? The community orchestra or community
band might well receive encouragement and financial aid by occasional
programs at the community movies.
_Dramatics and Pageantry._--In the last few years amateur dramatics have
become increasingly popular in rural communities. The "little country
theater" idea has caught the attention of rural people, and seems
destined in one form or another to become a rural institution. Amateur
dramatics are one of the most enjoyable and wholesome forms of
recreation. The actors not only have a deal of fun as well as hard work,
but real acting involves putting one's self into the part and gaining an
understanding of various types of people and social situations which is
a most liberal education. The audience, on the other hand, takes a
particular interest in the acting of its children, friends, and
relatives, and it enters into the spirit of the play much more fully
than when seeing professional actors. The amateur dramatic club tends to
become a community organization in which the people have a real pride
and for which they develop a loyalty which affords it a peculiar
opportunity and responsibility for portraying various problems and
phases of life, giving not only enjoyment but a finer and deeper
appreciation of human relationships.
For special occasions the historical pageant is not only a most
delightful entertainment but is one of the best means of arousing
community pride and spirit. The pageant grips both actors and audience
with a common loyalty to their forefathers. Such an historical picture
of the development of a community brings to its people an appreciation
of their common heritage and they come to a new realization of their
present comforts and their responsibility for the community's future.
All sorts and conditions of people will work together in a pageant and
enjoy the association. Any rural community which really makes up its
mind to do so can produce an historical pageant of its own, which will
give new meaning and inspiration to the common life.[61]
_Play in the School._--The school is commencing to realize the
importance of play as a phase of education, but in many cases the
one-room country school has too few children of the same age to make it
possible for them to play together with much satisfaction. School
consolidation is essential for better play. The grounds of most one-room
schools are ill-adapted to play and it is not always practicable to have
sufficient land attached to them for a suitable playground. It has been
assumed that children know how to play, but such is by no means always
the case. They have the desire to play, but if they have not had
opportunity to play with others, the forms of their play may be very
limited. Herein is the opportunity for supervision by the teacher, who
may teach them new plays and games, may uphold the code of play, and may
see that all have opportunity to participate. Obviously the teachers
themselves need training for this which they have not had in the past.
New York State has provided that any school district or combination of
several school districts may employ a supervisor of physical training,
towards whose salary the state will contribute half up to $600 per
annum, who will assist the teachers in developing physical training and
play in their schools. Similar plans are being adopted in other states.
Maryland has a state-wide athletic league organized by counties. The
children of each school are given physical tests, and recognition by
buttons and medals is given for the attainment of definite standards of
physical development and prowess, graduated according to age and sex.
Athletic meets are held by the schools of each county, and the winners
then compete in a state-wide meet.[62]
In many parts of the country the schools of a community, township, or
county are now holding play days or play festivals, with which is
usually a picnic, at which children and parents from the whole
countryside get together for a day of real recreation, and which have a
large influence in winning the support of their patrons for the play
activities fostered by the schools.[63]
_Boys' and Girls' Organizations._--Probably a larger impetus to the best
types of play for country boys and girls has been given by such
organizations as the Young Men's Christian Association, the Young
Women's Christian Association, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, the
Camp Fire Girls, and the Boys' and Girls' Clubs fostered by the
extension departments of the state agricultural colleges and the U. S.
Department of Agriculture, than by any other agencies. Each of these
organizations has a program of children's activities involving both
recreation and education, as well as a definite effort for character
building. They are invaluable allies of the home, the school, and the
church, for they are the boys' and girls' own organizations and meet
their desire for group activities. Just which one or how many of them
are needed in any one community is a local problem, and it is
impracticable to here attempt any evaluation of their particular
advantages. Suffice it to say that every rural community which can find
suitable leadership should have such an organization of boys or girls,
and will find the assistance of the state and national headquarters of
these movements of the greatest help in the development of a local
program of play and recreation.[64]
_The Church and Play._--We have already noted (page 133) a changing
attitude on the part of the rural church toward play and recreation.[65]
In the past it has too often been simply a negative condemnation of the
so-called "worldly amusements," with no effort to understand the normal
cravings of human nature which they satisfy or to furnish any
satisfactory substitute for them. It is true that socials of the older
classes in the Sunday school and of the young people's societies have
done much for the sociable life of the country, but very often they have
failed to interest those who would be most benefited by them. Recently,
however, church leaders are actively encouraging rural churches to
develop such programs of play and recreation as may be necessary to meet
the needs of their communities. The Sunday schools are organizing
baseball teams and baseball leagues, and are promoting "through-the-week"
activities of organized classes. A majority of the troops of Boy Scouts
are affiliated with churches, and scouting is becoming a recognized means
for the direction of the church's recreational work for boys.
Just how far the rural church should go in affording facilities for play
and recreation, is a local problem and it is difficult to generalize as
to the duty of the church in this field. If there is but one church in
the community, or there is a community church, and other agencies are
lacking, it may be highly desirable for the church which has suitable
rooms to equip one as a play room, or to establish a play ground for the
children, or to organize a dramatic club. But where there is more than
one church in a community, it is obviously difficult to organize
recreational work on sectarian lines. In some instances the churches are
pooling their interests in the support of a common recreational program.
Some of those who most keenly feel the responsibility for the leadership
of the church in this field, even go so far as to claim that on account
of the moral values involved in the play of its people, play and
recreation should be chiefly directed by and centered in the church.
There is no question but that the church which does not give attention
to this aspect of life and does not have some recreational and social
features among its activities will fail to meet the needs of its people,
but whether the church can compete with the school, the community
building, and independent social organizations, or whether it should
seek to do so, is hardly a debatable question. The play and recreational
life of most rural communities inevitably crosses church lines, and it
is well for the community that it does. People may differ on religion
and yet enjoy playing together. So the church may lead and promote
better means for play and recreation, but whenever it attempts
domination or control it will prejudice its position and will be unable
to accomplish its objective.
_Community Buildings._--The larger appreciation of the importance of
play and recreation in rural life has brought attention to the lack of
physical equipment. Every rural community needs a playground large
enough to include a good baseball diamond and a basketball court, and a
building where indoor sports, gymnasium work and basketball games can be
held.
On account of the lack of such facilities many cities have bought
playgrounds upon which have been erected special buildings containing
gymnasiums, game and club rooms, and often a branch library, which have
become known as "social centers." The "social center idea" has spread to
the country, for which various forms of social centers have been
advocated. Any building which is available for such purposes to the
whole community--the school, church, or grange hall--may become a social
center if suitable arrangements are made for its operation as such. The
U. S. Bureau of Education has urged that every school shall be made a
social center, and as far as this is possible, it is most desirable.
What can be accomplished through the country school is well shown in the
work of Mrs. Marie Turner Harvey in the Porter School at Kirksville,
Missouri.[66] But the district school will, at best, be only the social
center of a neighborhood, and in many cases its district is too small
for successful play or social life. Furthermore, the average one-room
school is ill-adapted in architecture or equipment for social purposes.
The consolidated school or village high school may well be made a social
center as far as it is possible for it to so function and new schools
should be, and are being, constructed with this in view. The school
building and the school playground are naturally the best places for
centering the play activities of the children, especially where physical
training or play supervisors are employed by the schools. It is a
question, however, whether those over school age will use the school for
social purposes as freely as some other building, unless the general
policy and management of the use of the building for community purposes
is in the hands of a community organization formed for that purpose.
Where there is but one church in a community, which is practically a
community church, the church building or church house may be utilized as
a social center, and the erection of community buildings by such
churches is now being advocated. In some cases such a community building
attached to a church may be a means of meeting the need; but in other
communities affiliation with the church may not be advantageous. Where
there is more than one church, the churches may join in the operation of
a community building, but in that case all of the churches must be
included or it will not have the support of the whole community--it will
not be a real _community_ building.
Many grange buildings are now used but once in a fortnight or so for
grange meetings, and remain idle the rest of the time. May it not be
possible to devise some equitable and satisfactory arrangement whereby
they may be made available for the constant use of all the people as
community buildings and still reserve them to the grange for its use at
such times as it desires? The average rural community cannot afford to
tie up so much capital in buildings which are so infrequently used.
In any event, the auspices under which a community building is to be
operated and the possibility of securing the united support of the whole
community for it are essential if it is to be permanently successful as
a "community home."
Because of the limitations of school, church, and grange hall, many
communities are now planning to erect "community buildings"[67] in which
all the "leisure-time activities" of the whole community may be
centered. The community building will usually include an auditorium with
stage for entertainments and dramatics, which is often used for a
gymnasium or basketball, a kitchen and dining room, a game room,
possibly a library room, and such other features as may be practicable.
In older communities there are often more buildings than are being used.
Unused churches may well be converted to community buildings with
relatively small expense. The advent of prohibition and good roads has
driven many village hotels out of business and their buildings are in
some cases suitable for conversion into community buildings and may be
purchased at much below cost. Some sort of organization must be the
owner of a community building and assure its support, and it would seem
that if the building is to be truly a community affair it should be
operated by the community as such. In some states legislation has been
passed permitting the township, or any voluntary tax district, to erect
and operate a community building, and many such buildings are in
successful operation. In other cases, it will be desirable to form some
sort of community organization, which is open to all members of the
community and which represents all of the organizations and interests
which may use the building, for its erection and control.
Thus rural play and recreation which formerly centered in the
neighborhood, is now being organized on a community basis, and the
increased interest in adequate facilities for play and recreation is, in
last analysis, an effort of the rural community to defend its integrity
against the lure of its people by the city. Just as in their economic
life and in their educational system rural people are compelled to act
together as a community if they are to compete with the advancing
standards of the city, so play and recreation is also becoming a concern
of the whole community.
FOOTNOTES:
[58] See his "The Meaning of Infancy."
[59] "The Play of Man." Translated by Elizabeth L. Baldwin. New York,
1901.
[60] "Play in Education."
[61] See Abigail F. Halsey, The Historical Pageant in the Rural
Community. N. Y. State College of Agriculture, Cornell Extension
Bulletin, 54. June, 1922.
[62] See Official Handbook of the Public Athletic League, Baltimore, Md.
Edited by William Burdick, M.D. Spalding Athletic Library, New York,
American Sports Publishing Co.
[63] See Galpin and Weisman, "Play Days in Rural Schools," Circular 118,
Exten. Div. of the College of Agr., Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison.
[64] National headquarters are as follows: Y. M. C. A., County Work, 347
Madison Ave., New York; Y. W. C. A., Country Dept., 600 Lexington Ave.,
New York; Boy Scouts of America, Fifth Ave. Bldg., New York; Girl
Scouts, Inc., 189 Lexington Ave., New York; The Camp Fire Girls of
America, 128 E. 28th St., New York; Boys' and Girls' Club Work (in
agriculture and home economics), States Relations Service, U. S. Dept.
of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., or the extension department of any
state agricultural college.
[65] The best discussion of this topic is Henry A. Atkinson's "The
Church and the Peoples Play." Boston, Pilgrim Press, 1915.
[66] See Evelyn Dewey, "New Schools for Old." New York.
[67] See Farmers' Bulletins 825, 1173 and 1192, U. S. Department of
Agriculture, by W. C. Nason, on Rural Community Buildings.