Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-08-29
WILL ADVANCE
CITIZENSHIP
What Fairgrounds De for
Coming Generation.

o~dyouHe, says.
1t should be a matter of c%ongratu-
lation to the residents of this city,
that the playground movement is re-
ceiving the attention of Mayor Gro
min and tat the city authorities are
heartily in sympathy with this move
ment. Bayonne wants we'll super
vfsed, physically attractive and ade-
quatefy equipped Fairgrounds, and
the recent opening of additional
Fairgrounds In the proposed new
Hudson County Park Is a step in the
right direction, affording as it does,
the children of the upper end of
the city a splendid place to play and
one which when 1t is properly i'm
proved, will meet all the require
ments of the particular section of
the city IN which 1t is located.
The playground is in keen COM
petition with the freedom, the ex-
element, the anarchy o. the street.
The child grows up in the great city
with his impressionable nature wide
open to all the allurements and temp
tations around him. He drinks in
what his elders give him, and be-
m the produ.t of his environ
ment.
He is foreordained, predestined,
to good citizenship or bad citizen
ship, according as his environment
is good or bad. He Is not by any
means a free moral agent.
Nothing but the BEST Fairgrounds
with the BEST leadership a win
in this fight for the child. 1t is
wasteful and weak for Bayonne to
spend any sum Of money on any
playground unless 1t sets It's heart,
Its strength, It's brains, to give the
very best, for with the best the re-
claiming of the children from the
city's destructive forces will be no
easy task.
1t cannot be done by wishing.
thinking, praying, talking. Heart,
brains and money must be invested.
The Investment will pay by turning
out bright, honest, patriotic, intel
ligent citizens, instead of the pro-
saloon lounger, the tramp, the petty
and skilled thief, and the hardened,
embittered man.
1T is EVERY BOYS AND GIRLS
DIVINE RIGHT TO PLAY UNDER
WHOLESOME CONDITIONS. When
we deprive a child of play, we break
the divine law" As a result, the
child breaks the human law" In
this, we, not the boy, are the real
offenders.
THE PLAYGROUND IS POSITIVE,
developing the constructive nature
of the child. While pitching in
quoits, throwing a ball at a mark,
endeavoring to surpass in efficiency
the boy Is developing skill, ~ccuracy
decision, all Of which is superior and
In direct contrast to the reckless,
lazy, irresolute tendency of the
street.
MORE THAN HALF OF A CHILD'S
EDUCATION takes place In his play,
whether it be on the playground or
IN the street. Which educates bet
ter, the playground or the street?
On the well supervised ground the
boy Is under good leadership and
wholesome conditions, developing
skill, good nature, playing with hon
est playfellows; out in the street he
is with the gang, led by the bully
who holds his position through ply
steal brutality o. mental wit of the
baser sort. On the playground it is
just leadership versus the bully of
the gang. 1t is the team-the basket
ball team and the baseball team
versus the gang. It is play versus
fight. 1t is side versus self. On the
can the boy works that his side may
win-that's patriotism. In the gang
he fights for himself alone. 1t is
courtesy, honesty, arbitration versus
insult, falsehood and revenge, the n
the principles of the playground, the
other the principles of the street.
Contrast the playground with the
street. Then ask yourself where you
want your child educated. Give the
same answer for every child in Bay
onne.
1T DEVELOPS SELF-MAsTERY
AND SELF-CONTROL. The games
teach the boy to keep his head cool
and to control his temper, for quar-
reling spoils the game and soon the
CROWD (namely, public opinion) is
down on him.
PLAY IS THE "BUSINESS" OF
CHILDHOOD. Every child should
have abundant opportunity to de-
velop good business ability Of this
nature. The boy who plays the
hardest grows into the most ener-
getic and efficient man.
THE PLAYGROUND DEVELOPS
RESPECT FOR THE CITY AND FOR
THE CITY'S LAWS. You cannot
give a child a gutter for q playground
and expect him to love his city and
its laws for what they have done
for him.. He knows he has been
cheated out Of something, and we
find him entering his protest by
smashing windows, stealing Junk,
throwing mud at passing street cars,
and IN other ways destroying prop
erty.
1T STIMULATES MORAL IN
SIGHT. Laws of right and wrong
are found In the play instinct per-
fected as nowhere else. Cheating in
the classroom Is often condoned, if
not excused by the students; in bust
ness-well; we are beginning at least
to believe in honesty, but cheating in
a game of ball or athletic contest
brings immediate disgrace. A crowd
may gamble at a game of ball, but it
will instinctively condemn any unfair
conduct by the players. Thus, It is
in all games and play, that the child
unconsciously Is receiving much OF
Its moral instruction, a nd without
such opportunities he is robbed of
his essential training.