CHILDREN NEED TO LEARN TO PLAY Writing as one whom when small played baseball with a rubber ball and a broomstick in a cow pasture, I can't understand the complaint about nothing to do in Stephenville. At both the JC Park and the City Park there are numerous diamonds, soccer, and football areas. There are numerous tennis courts, places to pitch horseshoes and some other things to do that are too numerous to mention. So what if there is no organized sports going on, pickup games have always been great. Stephenville has places to hike, jog, and ride bikes so there is no excuse for blaming nothing to do as an excuse for using drugs. At the age of seventy-four I use available places to ride a bike and what amazes me is the fact that there are very few people using the play areas. Oh, I forgot to mention that there are some nice basketball courts around town so what is your excuse for not finding something to do? I'm still on why children don't play like they used to. Of course we have electronic games now, but children used to play jacks, hopscotch, marbles, tops, etc. Now they don't as much. My ma like to have run me crazy about playing keeps with marbles, in fact she counted my marbles everyday to prevent me from gambling. When I won I could hide my gain, when I lost she made me sweat. Are parents and teachers killing children's initiative to compete in non-organized activities? I noticed that this year children at Chamberlin School drew hopscotch diagrams on the concrete, and I was pleased to see this happening. Please discuss if you think it would be worthwhile for teachers to encourage children to think up games to play on their own. I know when I was growing up that we did some things that were dangerous, but I don't think the girls got pregnant out of wedlock as much as they do now, and I sure know that we didn't have the drug problems. Maybe I'm forgetting the sneaked cigarettes and the high school student who sat in a tree and drank wine and then made four touchdowns the next football game. Age does blunt the memories, but I do think children should be encouraged to participate in their own games.