OFF TO A START

Every recreation program begins with the recognition of
a basic human need: the need for relaxation, for play and for
a satisfactory social life. At no time in our lives is this need
more urgent than during the ‘“‘in-between”’ years of ado-
lescence. War did not create this need, but war intensified
it, pointed it up, brought it to the attention of hundreds of
American communities. And hundreds of communities
are doing something to meet it.

Often the teen-agers themselves have been the first to
recognize their needs and to lay them before their elders.
Their practical ideas and enthusiasm have sparked many
community recreation programs.

Youth Makes Its Point

Here is a record of successful teen-age projects which
originated with the boys and girls themselves:

The high-school boys in Kalamazoo, Michigan, began
their campaign for a recreation center of their own by
gathering facts to prove their need. They checked court
records of juvenile delinquency, teen-age patronage of bars.
They surveyed youth programs in nearby towns. Then
they took their problem to the Council of Social Agencies,
and with its help were able to open a part-time canteen at
the YWCA. This fell short of their needs, but they still
boycotted adult-organized dances, held out for their own
program. Finally, they were allowed to take over the city’s
dance-band contract, managed it well, and proved themselves
capable of running their own show. ‘Today, they have a
center of their own, self-supported, self-governed, and
highly popular.

A high school junior in Walla Walla, W ashiniceon, wrote
to the mayor, asking for a youth center. He told of boys

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