The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-02-24

come to understand each other bet
! ter, and the problems to be solved
more clearly, and the alderman has
been made to feel greater sense of
espOnsibility to its constituents. Out
of these conferences committees
have been appointed and succeeded
i'll securing improvements and re-
forms that had long been neglected
This, of course. brought about i'm
proved conditions. Thus the social
center encourages the people to take
a greater interest in the public wei
fare.
Would Prevent Crime.
Fifth. The social center offers the
children i'll the out of school hours
aid during vacations such pleasant
opportunities for organized play that
the temptations to wildness and vi
cious play are greatly minimized;
in other words, the free play ground,
with it's swimming pool, and wading
place, sand pile sand athletic ap-
paratus, with the supervised games,
draws them away from the streets,
railroad yards, shops and cheap the
aires and the saloons, and other
places of danger. This would
mean much to us in Mankato. In
a recent talk with our municipal
judge, he said that much of the crime
among boys and girls would cease
if they had something useful to do,
end that our greatest source of temp
the cars of fruit and other things,
that boys like. If we could keep
them away from these places, and
provide them something to occupy
their time in ways they like better,
1t would mean much to their moral
life. One of the sad conditions of
our city life is that many children
have nothing to do when not in the
school. The social center in some
sense remedies this and really con-
tinueS their education in the hours
OF play. That this is true is proven
by an investigation carried on in
Chicago, which showed that all the
territory Influenced by the social
center crime was decreased II per
cent, while it increased in the whole
city II per cent, making total
decrease in favor of the social cen
ter of Twenty-Five per cent.
in Rochester, certain sections have
been troubled for years by com.
pany of rough boys. A merchant
remarked that they had disappeared.
Investigation showed they had be-
come Il debating club i'm connection
with one of the social centers. II
also provides for great number
OF young people a place for physical
development in the athletic associa-
tons. One has said, He who helps
boy to become a strong and good
man, makes a contribution of the
first class to the welfare of the IA.
ton"
Situation in Mankato.
We have nearly thirty-nine hun,
dred people in our schools in Man
katO, divided about as follows: The
high school, including the eighth
grade, d19; Pleasant Grove, GAG:
Union, 27G Franklin, 2S2 West
Mankato, $50; the state normal
school. SO; German Lutheran, $50:
Roman Catholic, 7S0; business col
legcs, 900; and with the exception
of those in our state normal school.
where they have regular physical
director with gymnasium and baths,
and all OF the students receive regu-
lar physical instruction and the kim
dergarten of our various schools, and
those helped by the Y. NJ c. A. we
have in all perhaps thirteen hundred
out of our thiryt-nine hundred stu
dents, receiving some direction in
physical culture, twenty-four hundred
of our young people in school life
in MankatO, who have no direction
in their hours of recreation. In
fact, no care is taken of the children
in their play times except to see
and that they do not play in the
streets. My visit to the schools re-
vealed the fact that the play grounds
are SO crowded that there is NO
room for real play, so the chill
dren for the most part just stood
around and talked or pushed each
other about, and waited for school
to begin again.
Then the social center works in
connection with the public school
and using the school building as a
meeting place and under the direction
of the school board, becomes of
great assistance in the extending
of usefulness of our schools among
the people by inspiring higher edu-
cational ideals among the parents
and those not in attendance at school
and creates an atmosphere in which
it is easier to keep the children in
school through the high school
course and helps them to continue
their educational work after they
are through. 1t means a better edu-
Gated people, better trained COM
munity. Then the scope of the plan
of the social center is big enough
to take in ali kinds of classes of
people. The trouble with most CT
our plans is that they only take in