Yet play experience is vital to the socialization of young children and participation in athletics has been shown to keep older children from involvement in drugs, gangs, and early sexual activity. The young children who attend Hartford Public Schools have bright smiles, tremendous playful energy, are eager to learn and have caring families and teachers. However, at recess and after school these children have very few opportunities for healthy recreation. Many elementary schools do not have a single swing or piece of play equipment. Others have playgrounds that are outdated and unsafe.
Many neighborhoods lack parks or community recreational facilities.
Parents are reluctant to let their children play outside on streets made unsafe by traffic, crime and violence. What We've Accomplished. The Hartford Board of Education Buildings and Grounds Dept. prepared the building site. Dr. Play Directs Volunteers at Martin Luther King School Our New Project. Plans are currently under way for a playscape at Annie Fisher School, with a targeted completion date of Spring 1999.