Norwich bulletin., 1914-10-01
EDUCATION AND
 COMMUNITY LIFE
Home, School. and the Time Between
 Factors with the Youth.


 The last quarter century has seen great improvements in the schools of America. In the same period they
 have. had to meet much criticism,
 some of it just, but much of it, un-
 just -because based on the implied as-
 ''-~".io- thaf the schools are wholly
 responsible for the education of our
 -.- u4 ~I, d--o youth. EuucatiOn in the true sense-the fashioning of the body, mind and spirit into an efficient individual, depends upon the home, the school and the other factors in community life. The increase in the complexity of life has placed increas- ing burdens on the school. though the child attends it only five or six hours a day about 200 days of the 365. The home is still the greatest edu- cation institution in spite of it's loss of influence in many cases. It ought always to be so, because 1t concerns more of the time of the child, affects more of it's habits, and can make a more intimate and effective impress than can the school. The National Bureau of Education at Washington is putting much of it's emphasis on the necessity of fostering the influences of the traditional American house hold, of ehabilitating the power of home life. of educating men and women to their responsibilities as home makers, home keepers and home educators
 But home and school together are a long way from covering the educa- tional problem, and as too often con- stituted powerless to control it. The time between the two. the after school hours, the Saturdays, the summer
 months-this uncontrolled segment in the life of the young-is vital factor in education that must be reckoned with. The products of thousands of homes and schools have been mutt 'ated by it. Whether education Is l more or less efficient depends largely
 upon it. The influence of homes wary. | But even when both homes and 1 schools are of the best, there Is often | neglect of the common play of the 1 children and youth.
 The. great contribution of the play ground and recreation movement in l this country is that. 1t has demon strated that towns and cities can make l the neglected play time and leisure hours an upbuilding, educational and social force. This has been made | the kind of play life. the leisure con- ditions. are a community responsibil- | ity not within the power of any one l home to control. Organized opportu- ! mites for. play and good recreation
 furnish to children and youth liberty l for the right sort of occupations in-
 stead of a license which is without l restraint. or in place of no good ou- portunities whatever.
 | It can be readily seen that the use | Of leisure involves both work and play. It Is for this reason that the
 hundreds of cities maintaining re-
 creation systems consider playgrounds
 children's gardens, manual training
 activities of Boy Scouts. social pleas
 ures that are profitable, opportunities | for good music. etc. as part of the
 same movement. The playground o1
 the recreation center in a school Is
 the natural starting place for effective
 good use of leisure. Intelligent di-
 rectfon, and organized methods iI close alliance with home and school will produce leisure time conditions
 that are pleasant and at the same time
 a real contribution to education in
 its broadcast sense,
 |. Tho Playground association of Nor wich is asking the town this year to l appropriate ss,0oo by which the school | board can assume the permanent sys-
 tematic care of tue p1aygrounds and l employ year round recreation su- | perintendent to develop the good uses l of leisure.