Recreation and Social Service

RECREATION AND SOCIAL SERVICE A very interesting report on the Eleventh Recreation Congress, held at Atlantic City, Netv Jersey, October 16-21, 1924, and attended by Oscar A. Kirkham, Chief Executive of the Y. M. M. I. A., was given to the General Board at a recent joint meeting The Recreation Congress was under the direction of the Play- ground and Recreation Association of America, a national civic organ- ization, whose purpose is to secure wholesome play and recreation opportunity for young and old, to help cities and small communities establish year-round recreation systems, to make the spare time of America count for citizenship. It is supported by the contributions of individuals who believe in the recreation movement. It was organ- ized more than 18 years ago, and among the leaders have been Joseph Lee, Theodore Roosevelt, Luther H. Gulick, Jacob Riis, Jane Addams, John Finley and others. The Association answers hundreds of questions each month through letters and personal conferences, publishes a monthly magazine, the Playground, also pamphlets and handbooks, etc. A group of field secretaries work throughout the country helping cities to get started on a recreation program on a year-round basis. Some of the high lights of the report on the Conference of Na- tional Playground and Recreation Association of America, were re- ported by Executive Kirkham as follows: At the opening session of the conference, Dr. John H. Finley, associate editor to the New York -Times, said: "Take the bitter with the sweet as sweet and bitter come, and play the game; that is the essence of good sportsmanship, and sportsmanship is needed in every daily contact, every crisis of life. But nowhere is it so well earned as through play. Play is the birthright of every child born in this land where freedom to pursue happiness is promised to all. It is the prerogative of the adult as well. People do not stop playing because they grow old, but grow old because they stop playing. The value of play is that in most of its expressions it is teaching honesty, fairness, quickness of de- cision, self-control, resourcefulness and loyalty." President Joseph Lee of the Playground and Recreation As- sociation of America, during his opening address, said: "Besides the good and the true, man needs the beautiful. It is a dimension of his soul. No life, no action is successful unless it reaches the point where it sings. We cannot watch a child make a sand cake, an artist listening for what nature says to him, without seeing that it is an act of worship. It is deep calling unto deep, the voice of nature to the voice within. Man is a live wire that connects these poles and wins his life as this current passes through him." Recreajtion facilities should be provided for Sunday use, but rec-

RECREATION AND SOCIAL SERVICE 163 reation departments of cities should not organize Sunday recreation events, was the consensus of opinion at the meeting of recreation executives. William Van DeWal of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, representing the Bureau of Mental Health of the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare, said: "Music has been an aid to discipline in institutions for the care of the mentally disabled. It does for the so-called abnormal mind what it does for the normal mind in dispelling gloom and creating a normal emotional reaction. It is a normal emotional release and prevents outbreaks resulting from emotional suppressions. Civilization has done far more with our mental faculties than with our emotional make-up in developing human society." He made an appeal for musicians to help mental institutions, as some very astonishing results have been produced where careful work has been done. Dr. J. H. McCurdy of the International Y. M. C. A., said: "Modern education and environment have seriously interfered with the development of the sensory motor system. If we do not want our boys and girls to grow up to be bleacherites, whose only muscular satisfaction is in throwing pop bottles at professional ball games, we must train them through physical education to develop the fundamental skills which are neces- sary to later enjoyment of life." He stated further that the Aviation Medical Corps found during the war that 92% of the deaths of aviators were due to human factors, and only 8% to enemy bullets and faulty machines. Laws for universal physical education in the schools have increased from 1 1 to 33, since 1918, when the National Physical Education Service, a department of the Playground and Recreation Association of America, was organized, in Atlantic City. Dr. Elizabeth K. Adams, educational secretary of the Girl Scouts, said: "The girl of today cannot be blamed for excesses if we continue to feed her vicarious and exaggerated amusements and to exploit her for com- mercial gain. We are spraying girls with a constant stream of stimulation and suggestions of highly emotional and exaggerated character. Many un- real motion pictures and magazines and newspaper stories are providing thrills without the necessary background of experience." Frank Alva Parsons, president of the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts, said: "We are what we live in; our houses express us, and we are colored and shaped by our houses. We are egotists and our clothes are our most personal art manifestations. Since our reputations are more vital in this jazz age than our characters, publicity and advertising are the art that gets across to the public. America is suffering from the new American trinity: Scientization, Standardization, and Acceleration. Everything has to be scientized from religion to the lunch counter. To talk without talking psychology is to be illiterate. Individuality and common sense are disap- pearing through standardization. Mass production seems to come about with

1 64 IMPROVEMENT ERA no brains apparent in the process. Jazz is the expression of a jazz mind. We do what we are." After these extreme expressions, he made an earnest appeal for the development of art in the American home and community life, saying, "Art is fitness to purpose. Art is appropriateness. Art is man's expression of beauty. Nature is God's expression of beauty." Dr. Koch of the University of North Carolina, has organized a bureau of community drama to meet the state-wide demand for aid in drama writing and production. The state holds an annual insti- tution for practical instruction in the art of the threatre. A state dramatic championship contest is held. "The soul of the folk play," said Professor Koch, "is simple, some- times crude, but always near to the good, strong, wind-swept soil. It tells of the long bitter winters in the little sod shanty, but it sings, too, of the springtime, of sunshine, and the wilderness gay with wild roses, and the fenceless fields, welling over with lark song. If a community is to open its soul, it must be through expression in all of the arts. Community drama gives an excellent opportunity for this expression." Would it not be an excellent idea if we of the M. I. A. were to offer a prize for the best one-act play written on some theme taken from the history of our people, or developing one of the principles of our religion? Extensive reports on dancing, the latest word in community song, drama, music and recreation, and social dancing were discussed in the Congress, and a summary of the best and newest ideas in these topics were also presented to the Boards of the M. I. A. by Executive Kirkham. Contrast A pauper is he Though a Midas he be, If he knows not To use well his treasure; A mendicant, too. He who cannot be true To aught but the gay god of pleasure. There is naught can destroy his high altars. More than silver or gold Is his power four fold; From guile free as the rippling waters; And wealthy is he, Whose heart is as free. His soul sings a song Through all his life long, As joyous as first notes of springtime; Each day on the earth Brings him a rebirth. And his smile is as glad as the sunshine. Pcovo. Utah Grace Ingles Frost

WHAT WILL IT GET ME? By Louis W. Larsen "Ah, you ain't no artist," jeered a tousel-headed lad. "I know it, but I'm goin' to be," retored his playfellow good- humoredly. "C'mon, chuck the easel — le's go swimmin'." "Nope, not fer two hours, maybe tree — not till I can do this sketch backwards, standin' on my head." "Ta-ta, then, booby, stick to your charcoal. Bet '111 know the spiral dive and the breast stroke before you know art — ta-ta!" That is a sketchy bit of lialogue between two high- school boys, as I recall it after four years. I knew both of them quite intimately then; and I know them pretty well now. Well, the one's prediction came true; he did master all the quirks of fancy swimming long before the other boy had become a passable artist. I remember that he figured quite prominently in inter-school aquatic meets, and broke a state record or two. He had his picture in the paper, on the sports page, and was the idol of his friends. That was two years ago. He is now in his twenties, and the glamorous old school days are but a memory. He dropped out of school before graduation, because his devotion to swimming caused his lessons to lag. Today he is driving a delivery wagon, at a small wage, with no better prospect in sight. Other boys have taken his place on the spring board and in the sports news; he is all but forgotten. The other boy, the "artist,"' has won success, too. He is not famous, perhaps never will be. Never has he figured in the daily news nor had his likeness reproduced. But he has made a fine beginning in commercial art. He is already earning a fair salary, with chance for advancement, no end! This chapter of boyhood is typical of youth, of life itself. It reflects the grim tragedy of needless failure, and portrays the ful- filment of hope and work. It is the "hope" side of the picture I should like to emphasize to all boys who have still their winning years before them. Swimming is a fine accomplishment for any boy, or man. But as a career it is a poor makeshift. It is one of the many exhilarating activities that should be made subordinate and incidental to serious work. When the scheme of things gets turned about, disappointment surely follows. And in how many pitiful thousands of cases does the scheme of things get turned about! And then there are scores of other pastimes that are not even wholesome recreation; they have not the saving virtue of contributing

166 IMPROVEMENT ERA to physical development. Sitting astride a fence rail, whittling on a stick, is one of them. It isn't' exercise, and the product of the labor is mere waste, shavings that are caught up by the wind and blown to nowhere. If one is not jealous of his time, he will fall into a lot of loose habits as wasteful and meaningless as whittling in the sun. An occa- sional sun bath is tonic, to be sure, but too much lolling exposure saps the energy and makes for flabby muscle and sluggish mind. It is no exaggeration to say that the average boy wastes enough time to learn a profession or a trade. He cannot be a drudge, of course. No sensible person would claim that. There must be hours devoted to play, out in the sunshine. But time frittered away beyond the point of honest recreation is a pitiless squandering of the stuff life is made of. I have seen boys stand at the curb by the hour watching the progress of a baseball game that is being played hundreds of miles away. That seems to me one of the strange paradoxes of life, symbol of a lack of vision; the pursuing of a will-o'-the-wisp, when the great prize, tangible and real, is right at hand. True, baseball is fine, in the right amount, time and place; a real achievement, if you can play it, a royal sport to witness from the bleachers. But what a tragedy when a chap who is growing up ignores the call to opportunity and loses himself, day after day, in a crowd of sidewalk baseball fans. It isn't that anyone objects to the occasional indulgence in things that are trivial. It is the habit of triviality that blocks the way to progress and thwarts hope. Don't get the habit — that is my warning. There is an American expression I would recommend to every young man; it is almost worth adopting as a slogan. It is blunt, a little undignified, maybe a wee bit selfish; but it is more good than bad, and I'm going to propose it. "What will it get me?" is the phrase I have in mind. Here is a test to apply to every pastime that bids for your attention. It is the proverbial "acid test" and easy to use as a gauge of value. A fellow should be as jealous of his time as he is of his self respect; because if he loses either, it is gone forever. It is well worth asking yourself, before you launch a project or allow yourself to be lured into a pastime, "What will it get me?" Youth is the period of training, a time when a young man must look rigorously to his own vocational interest. One stakes his whole chance for success on the things he gives his mind to during these precious years. Social ser- vice, the larger outlook, will follow in its own good time. Some- times self-interest is the public weal in drab disguise. There are boys who devote every other evening to card playing, a dangerous pitfall if it grows to be a habit. Time is like money,

WHAT WILL IT GET ME? 167 one's use of it makes him either a wise spender or foolish spendthrift. A prodigal indulgence in any game is literally throwing wealth to the winds. Come to think of it, time is like money in another respect: there are hundreds of ways to invest it, most of them alluring enough, and yet worthless. Baubles we purchase with our "loose change" please the eye for the moment, but they soon pass out of our lives for- ever. So, when you spend your time, be sure you are making an investment and not a speculation. Most work, if it drives in a single direction, is an investment; while most play, if it has no drift or purpose, is a speculation. It is worse, even; it is a gamble at terrific odds. If one responded to all the invitations, social and other, his schedule would be full to distraction. He would be a mere vagrant, diverted here and there by everybody's whim. One must learn to hold his own compass and steer his own course, full against the winds, if need be, straight for the port he has chosen for his destination. To yield the rudder to other hands is to jeopardize the entire journey. It is a matter of sheer self-preservation to learn to say "no," emphatically and often; to oppose the wish of a well-meaning friend who besets one with endless invitations. Who knows so well as the pilot of the ship, the direction of its going, the time and place of its scheduled arrival, and the emperilment of precious freight, by any deviation from the course? The young man must learn to apply the test of real and ultimate value. He should ask himself at every turn: "What will it get me?" He must learn early in life what things to do, and what things to leave undone. The latter sometimes requires more true discrimination than the former. A great newspaper editor once said that the best qualifica- tion of an editor is to know' what to leave out of print. It is a good rule to apply to one's daily living. This kind of rigorous self-discipline ia exactly the price you will have to pay for any success worth while. You will be called a "piker" by some, and suspected of selfishness by others; but the things you will some day accomplish, after the period of training, will vindicate you. Animals have rights as well as people. Most birds are a great help to the farmer. It pays to take good care of domestic animals. All cruelty degrades the person who practices it. To abuse any innocent and helpless creature is mean, cruel and cowardly.

Editors ^Table At Christmas Tide The first article of faith of the Latter-day Saints declares that: "We believe in God, the eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." A fundamental in the faith of the Latter-day Saints is the belief that we are the children of God. We existed before we came to this earth, and we shall exist when this body is laid down in the grave. Furthermore, we believe in Jesus Christ, and that if we keep his com- mandments and are faithful, enduring to the end, we shall obtain eternal life, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God to man; and the person who has eternal life is therefore rich in very deed. And what is eternal life? Jesus said: "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." And how shall we know Christ? The things of God, we are told, are known to no man except by the Spirit of God, and no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost. The importance, therefore, of receiving the Holy Ghost is paramount. How shall the Holy Ghost be obtained? becomes a leading ques- tion with every soul, since, without him, one cannot get a testimony of Jesus Christ. Peter, the apostle, pointed the way clearly in his remarkable Pentecostal sermon to the multitude, when he said: "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is unto you, and unto your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." The Latter-day Saints have complied with this injunction and are in possession of the Holy Ghost as a gift from God by the im- position of hands by Divine authority in the Latter-days, through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Having thus received the Holy Ghost, following their repentance and baptism, they are entitled to all the blessings and privileges that this per- sonage of the Godhead is prepared to give in person and through his powers and influences to those who have complied with these gospel laws, and who make proper use of this precious gift. They are prepared to know the Father and the Son, of whom the Holy Ghost is a direct witness. We sometimes confuse the Holy Ghost, who is a personage of spirit, with the powers and influences that emanate from the Godhead through the Holy Ghost, which powers and influences are sometimes called the Holy Spirit, and which permeate all life and all living