154 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
yards without resorting to the pitiful expedient of using the roofs as in New York.
A great difficulty came from the mixed nationalities and the separative influence of parochial schools. At the Holden play- ground in Bridgeport it was discovered, after a fortnight or more, that many children were kept away by the supposition that the privileges of the yard were available only for children in attendance regularly at the school, and this misapprehension was strengthened by boasting assertions of boys who were enrolled on the school register. At this same yard it was found extremely difficult to engage the young Polish children of the parochial schools in organized play. They seemed utterly unused to organization. It must be noted, though, that ignorance of play and lack of initiative on the part of nearly all the children in the playgrounds was marked. Some explanation ot this fact will be found in the character of the constituencies of the playgrounds. The Holden School population is largely German and Polish ; that of the Washington School, Scandina- vian ; of the Walsh School, Bohemian ; the Washburne, Jewish and Irish ; the Kinzie, Italian and Irish ; the Lyman Trumbull, Scandi- navian and German. These forces could be overcome if chil- dren had adequate opportunity for play, but the limitations of the streets and alleys as recreation grounds all operate to the destruction of initiative and organization.
Failure of the children to appreciate their privileges, due evidently to the old-fashioned prison idea of school, hindered the work of the attendants. The swings were the most popu- lar form of amusement, doubtless because the most individual- istic, and at first there was little consideration of others, but a constant improvement was noted as the attendants became per- sonally acquainted with the children, and the idea gained ground that mutual consideration was necessary even for one's own enjoyment. The lack of experience and want of personal acquaintance with the children presented a difficulty which was gradually removed. These attendants should know the children and their needs at least as well as the school-teachers do.
The committee experienced great difficulty in getting the use
