ly houses are their patrons, and when still young
the children learn to imitate those whom they see and hear. Even for
the children who do not work, the street has its influence for evil.
The street was intended as a means of transit, not for trade or play,
but it is the most convenient place for games and social enjoyments of
all sorts. The little people become familiar with profane and obscene
language, with quarrelling and dishonesty, and even with more serious
crime, and no intellectual education in the schoolroom can counteract
the moral lessons of the street.

245. =Playgrounds.=--Various experiments for keeping children off the
street have been proposed and tried. Vacation schools in the summer
provide interesting occupations and talks for those who can be
induced to attend; their success is assured, but they reach only a
small part of the children. Gymnasiums in the winter attract others of
the older class, but the most useful experiments are equipped and
supervised playgrounds. For the small children sand piles have met the
desire for occupation, and kindergarten games have satisfied the
instinct for association. The primitive nature of the child demanded
change, and one kind of game after another was added for those of
different ages. Swings, climbing ladders, and poles are always
popular, and for the older boys opportunities for ball playing,
skating, and coasting. All these activities must be under control. The
characteristics of children on the playground are the same as those of
their elders in society. Authority and instruction are as necessary as
in school; indeed, playgrounds are a supplement to the indoor
education of American children.

246. =The City School.=--The school is expected to be the
foster-mother of every American child, whether native or adopted. It
is expected to take the children from the avenue and the slum, those
with the best influences of heredity and environment, and those with
the worst, those who are in good health and those who are never well,
and putting them all through the same intellectual process, to turn
out a finished product of boys and girls qualified for American
citizenship. It is an unreasonable expectation, and the American
school falls far short of meeting its responsibility. It often has to
work with the poorest kind of material, sometimes it has to feed the
pupil before his mental powers can get to work. It has to see that the
physical organs function properly b