Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 August 1916 — Junior Work at the Chautauqua [ARTICLE]

Junior Work at the Chautauqua

One of the big features of the Chautauqua is the junior department. W r e are trying to emphasize the necessity for us as a community to inspire : n the boys and girls a healthy love of snort, so that their leisure hours will be taken up with more profitable and vigorous games.

We desire the co-operation of all the high school boys and girls and older young people of the community in this feature, as we are planning some special things for them; All of the sociability and companionship of life comes in our hours of recreation and no one can play together without being better friends because of the play. If we enter into the spirt of the play. Most any sort of a game will secure this fellowship, but the more interesting the game the more effective will lie its value in this regard. In gen eral, team games are of more value along this line than individualistic games.

We must have organization in order to make play interesting. A community could not last a week without direction. Take away the police courts, juries, civic administration and let everyone do just as chooses and we would have exactly the same conditions under which the children are playing. Put the play director in the play ground and you put the umpire over the game. Directed play substitutes competitive sides from wrangling, horse play and aimless running. It demands obedience to law in teaching the child to obey the rules of the game. He is learning quiet co-op-eration, power of attention, fairalertness, rapid decision, sympathy, courage and loyalty. Are not these things a self-discipline which makes for better citizenship later on, because are we not establishing standards of conduct by actual doing?—Miss Branson, supervisor of junior chautauqua.