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opinion

Herald A Lantern 16 December 81

^ t •> DorU Ward WITH NO INTENTIONS •< radlns ap on tht holiday dinner Uble, Ihrar birds of • fealbor were Iasi seen Roosrslrpplng Uietr way toward Ootben.' reader's forum * ^ What’s Happened To Noon Recess?

by Owen Morphy When I was h child going to elementary school in the late 40 s and early 50’8, the highlight of rpy school day was the 45 minutes or so right after lunch when I got to play on the playground With my friends. No-matter how much work ourjeacher loaded onto us< we knew we’d get to play after lunch. It was supervised play, but iUwasn’t directed; you could play with whomever you wanted to, and do, within reason whatever you wanted to do. I can remember little of th^ actual hours'spent in class but I have very vivid memories'oif things that happened on the playground. When I taught elementary school for five years in the late 60's and early 70’s, that same old noon recess was still an integral part of the school day. My fourth graders in the Virgin Islands and in Antwerp, Belgium, . Iboked forward to playtime Just like I had. So.did their compatriots in Atlantic City, Greenwich, Connecticut, and Allentown. In facl. until I came back to Cape May County last'autumn as a substitute teacher, I had never heard of a school, much less a school systenv that denied children the traditional American play period. 1 THINK IT’S shameful that there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of little children in schools in this county who never get outside except for a teacherdirected activity like kickbali. Kickball may be exer-

teach at elementary schools that give the children noon recess. Dennisville, Stone Harbor, and Avalon are good examples of happy sihotols where the kids enjoy supervised but undirected playtime. There are undoubtedly

others.

Whe I asked teachers in the larger township school systems why there was no undirected play period for the children in their schools, I got a variety of answers. At one school, they told me the teachers didn’t want the extra duty. That’s no answer. For a few dollars a week, some mother could be hired to supervise noon recess. AT ANOTHER SCHOOL, they told me, "If we let them out, they’d tear each other up.” Again, that’s no answer. It’s because you’re not letting them out regularly that they’re tearing each other up. At still another school, they blamed the staggered school lunch prografa Jot no noon recess, - But Dennisville, for instance, has a large lunch program with twq or three sections of each grade, and it doesn’t prevent them from having a staggered noon recess that works well. Some of the grades get out to the playground earlier and go in earlier, but most of the kids are out there playing together — and they don’t tear each other up, I suspect that many parents take it for granted that their children arc presently enjoying the traditional

British Seagull 387 The EJlderly by Ima Byrd We birds like to sit around Sullivan’s Dept. Store ih Avalon. We were sitting there one day last week feeling pretty good about life and hoping that Rita or one of the girls in the little luncheonette there woufd give us a handout, when a little old lady'stumbled by/ A couple of our old birds watched her carefully as she shuffled forward, head bent against the icy winds. "Toobad," said Old Gull Humans just don’t understand anything about feelings. I’m glad birds are more sensitive or I might be alone like that human," she said fluffing her tattered wings, ' "You all treat me as an equal and thought I fly a little lower and slower, you’ve never made me feel cut-off from the rest of the flock.” "I’ve always been with you, if not in flight time, in spirit," said Old Gull gratefully. THE BIRDS LOOKED AT THE OLD flopping gull and smiled. "You ARE one of us," they said simply, . "Humans always segregate their elders instead ot absorbing them into the mainstream and giving them the respect they deserve. They push them aside, stick them in homes and ignore them. Their attitudes toward aging are really mixed up ,and full of negative thinking," said Old

Gull?

“Well, said Little Gull, "those humans did have a Con ' ference on Aging so ytmeone must care." "Ha!” I laughed. "That wasasham and^shame. it was a set-up deal to placate the elderly, to manipulate them. Why they couldn't eveh speak freely on important issues. The conference was a joke," I added getting angrier. "Our Washington Wrd correspondent sai^ it was a cover<Page 35 Please) Saludos, Amigos In Sud Jersey by Juanita N. Bird A few years ago, when we moved to Costa Rica (bag, baggage, pets, grandmother, teenagers and all), I promised to write you about our adventures. But I have been so busy living, I haven’t had time! However, today, while listening to the news...gloom unemployment, energy crises, wars...it occurred to me your readers might enjoy the Saga of the Birds. So, here ’ I am, pen in hand. .. Just like Colombus, we have "discovered” South America. We are now in Colombia (a democratic republic, known for its respect of human rights) where, for the first time in many years, we can walk the streets with little fear, while enjoying a cost of living among the lowest in this hemisphere. IT ALL BEGAN WHEN we found a lovely old coconut plantation on the Caribbean Sea. And; to complete its • unique setting, when we looked away from the sea we saw, towering ov^* everything, 19,000 feet high and snow-capped the year ‘around, majestic Mount Colombus. We knew instantly...we were home! -It may be hard to believe ...hundreds of waving green palms, blue sky and sea, pounding surf, golden sand, snow-capped (and skiable) peeks...but it is all here, on the Pan American Highway near Santa Marta, the oldest (456 years) city in all of the Americas. So, we have a new love: our beach and home in Colombia. We have found something excitingly different and, being human, have to pass it on. (We are retired Navy, who dared to dream, and are makibg it come true. At times difficult, but never boring!)'If you share an interest in our part of the world, feel free t» write us, via .ir mail, at P.O. Box 5222, Santa Marta, Colombia, South America. It may take a while, but we promise to answer ea<& and every letter. Now, from beautiful Santa Marta, we wish you salud (health), dinero (wealth) and much amor (love)! Junanito (Mr*. Lewis) Bird is a happy resident a long way south of the border.

"No Thank*. Thai 5»uH It Bod For Yoor Haollh...