A Bold Program for Recreation

Abstract

The shorter working day and longer retirement period, plus monoto nous and often stultifying jobs in mechanized industry, have created a challenge for recreationists. New objectives and policies must be formulated, and a new jurisdiction must be carved out to supplement existing public education and pub lic welfare programs. Recreationists must become more confident, demandful, and imaginative. They must disseminate the doctrine that the enjoyment of leisure is an end in itself, and that recreation skills should be compulsorily taught. Recreation should be a basic program carrying its own justification and should not be ancillary to correctional and therapeutic programs. On the prac tical side, the administrative base for recreation should be broadened; expanded recreation funds should be provided out of the education budget; emphasis should be placed on late teen-agers and old people; land should be acquired as quickly as possible; and the professional training of recreationists should be broadened.