Thames Star. WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 1930. THE VALUE OF RECREATION.

Thames Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 17928, 2 July 1930, Page 4

Thames Star.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 1930. THE VALUE OF RECREATION.

"With malic* toward* none; with charity for all; with firmnea* in th* right, a* God giv*a us to m* th* right."—Lincoln.

An interesting address upon the value of town-planning as a factor in improving the social welfare of the community was recently delivered by Mr Mawson, Director of Town-Planning. Mr Mawson’s contention, which receives the support of social workers throughout the world, is that attempts to cope with .juvenile delinquency can never be wholly successful so long as a proportion of the young in our midst is reared in an injurious environment, with no adequate facilities for recreational pursuits. He does not suggest that in this Dominion the problem is as acute as older countries. In no other country in the world, he states, is a higher standard of social welfare to be found; but it is, after all, only a question of degree. In our small community there are 7000 to 8000 people suffering from tuberculosis, patients in mental institutions number 5900, and 7000 .children are under State supervision from one cause or another. To what extent can environment be held responsible tfor these' disturbing figures? Mr Mawson seeks to show that a great part of disease, insanity and crime in New Zealand is traceable to the uncongenial conditions in which children have been brought up. The overcrowding of buildings upon the land in urban areas, with the overcrowding of human beings in these buildings so as to deprive the occupants of light and air space, of opportunities for healthy recreation, encourages the formation of evil habits which, he states, too courts. It should not be necessary often lead their victims to the courts. It should not be necessary for the value of recreational facilities to be urged in New, Zealand, where the thoughts of the people are so largely occupied with their football, hockey, golf, cricket and tennis, yet Mr Mawson’s plea cannot be summarily dismissed as without justification. Organisations exist all over the Dominion for the encouragement of health-giving activities of various kinds, and there arri ninety-two separate Government and private bodies engaged in social welfare work among children. The most valuable constructive work, he asserts, is being dene by the Rugby Union, Y.M.C.A., and Y.W.C.A., and similar organisations for the promotion of social and physical vitality, and church and educational institutions are giving considerable aid upon these lines. “But however valuable the moral arid physical training a child may obtain through such institutions,” Mr Mawson continues, “we must remember that the anti-social conduct I have deplored exists, persists and grows in spite of them. Ido riot say they have failed, but I do think that individually or collectively they have not been able to reach to the heart of the problem.” Mr Mawson appeals for a recognition of the part that town-planning can and should take in furthering the physical education of youth along the right lines. The multiplicity of bodies in New Zealand engaged in social welfare work of one kind or another, without any adequate attempt at co-ordination or the formulation of any real constructive policy aiming at the elimination of the root causes of our social diseases, prevents the work being pushed forward as it should be. The Town-Planning Institute offers, in his opinion, an opportunity for these organisations to unite in battling for the relief of the fundamental causes of social disease. The need is great, for the diseases are spreading, and it would seem that his suggestion merits consideration by the bodies concerned. As to whether it represents the way to salvation all may not be quite convinced*.