APPENDIX

Principles in Developing a Community Recreation
Program for Young People

1. Plan for the whole community

Bring together all community groups concerned with recreation for
teen-age youth. Learn what the total needs are, what resources can be
mobilized to meet them. Determine how the job is to be accomplished.
Reach all children—omit none.

2. Let youth participate

Give much of the job of organizing their own lesiure-time activities
to teen-age boys and girls. Given the opportunity, they will demonstrate
ingenuity and enthusiasm, develop self-discipline. Success depends on
the extent youth is allowed to inject its own thinking and planning into
the program.

3. Allocate responsibility for providing services

Fit all public and private youth agencies into a broad community plan
and allocate responsibility to each for the various areas in the com-
munity. Gaps in existing services can thus be filled and overlapping
or duplication of effort avoided.

4. Develop neighborhood activities

The neighborhood should be the central point in planning recreation
activities for teen-agers. Keep boys and girls in their own neighborhood
with their own neighborhood groups by developing varied programs
that youngsters themselves want. :

5. Strengthen existing services

Secure wider and fuller use of existing recreation facilities—private
and public.- Adjust hours of service. Broaden and revise programs to
answer all present-day needs of the teen-age group.

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