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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT 



Edited by A. A. ALLEN, Ph D. 

 Address all communications relative to the work of this 

 department to the Editor, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y 



BIRD -PLAYS FOR THE SCHOOL 



It is said that if we could utilize the energy that is expended in play, the 

 wheels of industry could be turned without work. Certainly man likes to play 

 and it is equally certain that he does not like to play alone. Moreover, he 

 needs to play. The old dictum, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" 

 applies to grown-ups as well as to children. Man must have recreation and he 

 must enjoy it with others. Man is a social being, and even if he could play all 

 the time, it would not satisfy him if he played alone. It is the society, the club, 

 the team that satisfies because it combines recreation with social intercourse. 

 The value of this social recreation, this playing together, is recognized, today, 

 not only in the schools and churches, but even in the larger industrial plants 

 where the efficiency of the workers counts for as much as the perfection of the 

 machines. And so these factories have their recreation-grounds, their dances, 

 their baseball games, anything to get the employees to play together and develop 

 teamwork. 



The idea of getting workers to play together is not a new one, it is merely 

 finding expression in new ways. The old-time folk dances, the parades of 

 trades unions, the church socials, the Sunday-school picnics, grew out of this 

 same desire to bring together the workers in a common field for mutual recrea- 

 tion that they might learn better to work together. Today we are hearing more 

 about Rotary Clubs where all kinds of business men get together for a sociable 

 hour and luncheon once a week, of community sings, and even of community 

 drama, all making for friendly cooperation or neighborliness, one of the greatest 

 needs of any community. 



During the World War men and women of every class learned how to work 

 together for a common cause. There was one great ideal binding them together 

 and urging them on. The spirit of self-sacrifice was in the air and that demo- 

 cratic spirit of neighborliness was felt as never before, and the country grew 

 better for it. But it was work, and as soon as the war was won, the world 

 slumped. Communities had learned to work together but now everyone was 

 ready to relax, and communities had not yet learned to play together. Of 

 course, each community had its ball nine and knew how to gather on the side- 

 lines and shout, but, after all, those who actually participated in this community 

 sport were a very small minority. The ball nine, the bowling-league, the sewing - 



(no) 



