Earlier Attitude toward Play
The school of a generation ago retained a good deal of the Puritan attitude toward play. One has only to recall the pandemonium which used to break loose at recess and at the time of dismissal to realize that there was a sharp distinction between school and play. In school one sat up straight and still; when one was free from school one let out all the pent-up inner impulses. The kind of play that was exhibited under these conditions was riotous, irregular, and aimless. Furthermore, the kind of play which was cultivated under these conditions did not carry over into later life. There was no system, no progression, in that play, and no cultivation of the inventiveness so necessary if the recreations of later life are to be intelligent.