ATHLETICS AND SPORTS 55 



is permitted opportunity for free and precocious 

 development — that is, the sex instinct. Our 

 dancing schools, where children of the "best" 

 families go, are but institutions for suppressing 

 natural instincts and for the encouraging of the 

 precocious development of instincts which do not 

 need encouragement at all. The moral downfall 

 of many such children has undoubtedly begun in 

 the common children's dancing class. 



But many folk dances are excellent, and 

 children actually enjoy them. And it is an 

 encouraging point that they are gradually being 

 introduced, largely through the influence of the 

 public schools. 



It is not the place of this book to describe the 

 many plays and games that are so valuable for 

 children. There are a number of able and com- 

 prehensive books on the subject. A few words of 

 criticism and warning, however, are quite in place. 



Co-operative sports, requiring the organization 

 of " teams," are very valuable. Good team-work 

 means the elimination of the individual ego, and 

 a boy learns to sacrifice himself and his desire for 

 getting into the "lime-light" for the sake of his 

 team. This co-operative spirit develops with 

 adolescence, before which time "teams" are but 

 collections of individuals, of which every one 

 wants to be "pitcher," or "quarter-back," and 

 so on. 



