t in a fetid atmosphere watching tawdry spectacles. But play, the
idealization of life's experiences, they will find somewhere. To this
need the home must minister by the provision of space, time,
opportunity, and the means of play. If through either sloth,
selfishness, preoccupation, or a mistaken idea of an empty innocence of
life you make recreation and social intercourse impossible in the
family, the young people will find it on the street or in the crowd. In
the family that plans for recreation and provides facilities and time
for young people to play the problem is a minor one.

But young people will naturally desire to project themselves into the
social amusements of the larger groups. Then we ought to know what those
amusements are; we must be able to advise, from actual knowledge, not
from hearsay or prejudice, as to the healthful and worth while. The home
must insist on the provision in the community for the safe socialization
of amusements. The thousands of young girls in the cities, who tramp the
pavements down to dance halls, primarily are only seeking the
satisfaction of a normal craving; and they, on their way to the dance
halls, pass the splendid plants of the schools and the churches,
standing dark and idle. Families must develop a public opinion that will
demand, for the sake of their young people, a provision for amusement
and recreation that, instead of poisoning the life, shall strengthen,
dignify, and elevate it. If the demand for clean drinking-water is a
proper one, is the demand for healthful food for the life of ideals less
so?

There can be no doubt of the attitude of any home with the least
conscience for character toward all forms of public amusements in which
young people are herded promiscuously for the mere purpose of killing
time in trivialities. The "white cities" with their glittering lights
and baubles are often moral plague colonies. The amusements debase the
intellect, blunt the moral sensibilities, and appeal to the baser
passions. They are the low-water mark, we may hope, of commercialized
amusement. But they remind us that young people demand company and
change from the monotony of the day's toil. They ask us as to the
provision we are making for young people and challenge us to use their
inclinations for good.

But besides these "shows" there are many dignified forms of social
recreation. Good music is to be heard and good plays are to be seen.

The theater, whether of the r