RURAL RECREATION 233 



the individuals acquire confidence in themselves and the ability to 

 lead others. They will acquire the ability to stand defeat as 

 gracefully as victory, recognition of the rights of others, coop- 

 eration, self-subordination for the good of the majority, and 

 leadership through team games and athletics. These rural chil- 

 dren need, perhaps more than any other one thing, the social 

 aspect of these games and contests. Rural communities must 

 have more wholesome social life. There is a dire need for social 

 centers in the country. Entertainments, festivals, and commu- 

 nity "sings" will do more to bring our country brothers out of 

 their shells than any type of activity yet observed, and the vehicle 

 for inaugurating these social gatherings is the supervisor of 

 physical training, who must act as a general community leader. 



We must give these children something they can use when 

 through school as well as develop them while in school. We must 

 develop the habit of wholesome exercise for after school life. 



Activities that develop health, strength, intelligence and char- 

 acter must be given in order to give the rural children the fullest 

 measure of physical education. Those activities are manifold. 

 They should be utilized during frequent periods in the school pro- 

 gram during recess and after school. Directed play is needed 

 for the rural children far more than for their city cousins. 



To sum up these needs we may say that the rural child requires 

 a special type of activity. It is useless to preach morality, self- 

 control, recognition of the rights of others, altruism, self-confi- 

 dence, determination, loyalty, cooperation, courage, skill, and a 

 host of other attributes which the individual should acquire in 

 school, if mere preaching is all that is attempted. It is necessary 

 to give the individual opportunity to learn these valuable lessons 

 for himself, and this he can do through normal directed activity 

 better than he can in any other way. Children need activity in- 

 tended to promote health, and body as well as moral discipline; 

 activities for the health and happiness of all boys and girls at the 

 same time as the mental and moral training. They need to real- 

 ize the obligations to the society in which they live, and to have 

 a readiness of spirit and body to meet those obligations in daily 

 life. They need to be made conscious of the fact that it is not 

 for themselves alone that they sing patriotic songs, perform daily 

 drills, play games and undergo health examinations, but for 



