Hickory Daily Record

WAR MAKES MORE PLAY FOR CHILDREN NECESSARY

On account of the nervous strain and feeling of anxiety that children are especially likely to suffer because of the war, with its stories of ruthlessness and horror, Miss Julia C. Lathrop, chief of the children's bureau at Washington, advises more play and wholesome recreation for children, particularly for school children. In advising more playgrounds, clubs, and various recreational centers, she points out the demoralization that has come to the boys and girls of England on account of breaking down these conditions, with the result that chaos prevails in play activities since the war.

She says:

"This is a good time to remind ourselves that the continuance and development of all types of innocent and healthful recreation in every community offer a call to patriotic service for many who cannot go to the front. The strain and anxiety which are certain to grow in this country for an indefinite period ahead of us need to be counterbalanced by greater community effort to provide for wholesome play.

"This appeal," says the state board of health, "reminds us of the number of schools in North Carolina without safe and sufficient playgrounds. Many schools, it is true, have a cleared space in front of the door or to the side which they call a play ground, but when it comes to every child in school taking some part in a game or play, which is necessary for both the physical and mental development of the child, and this every day, neither the space nor the facilities are there. Dr. Woods Hutchinson regards play of such importance in the health and educational life of a child that he says: Rather a playground without a school than a school without a playground."

"A playground for every school and play space for every child every school day in the year in North Carolina is not only a timely war measure but a physical and a mental emergency measure."