I
c
D'
I met my boyfriend at the candy
store
He bought me c ndy, he bought
me cake
He brought me home with
bellyache.
ama mama, I'm . ck.
Call the doctor, quick, quic
quick.
Doctor, doctor ill I die?
Count to five and you're alive
One, two, three, four, five,
I'm alive!
y W' t.EdeIman
Prerident, Children's Defense
Fund
ASHINGTO (NNPA) -
girls chant a their feet
'p and rope p the . e alk.
In the alley, boys are tossing
a tennis ball against the . de of
garage with rythmic, repeat­
ed thumps. earby, group
of little children it crounched,
jntent, over a game of tic tac
toe.
The are the sight and
unds of our children at play.
The game sound familiar: they
have not changed much since
we played them. e dults,
busy ith our jobs and respon- .
iblilite � hurry by ithout giv-
ing them a ond glance.
But recently a group of
81'0 ps in e York City
d cid d to y attention to
the street game and hat
they tell us about our children
and our changing communitie .
A new project called City
Play, ponsored by e Queen
Council on the Arts and the
city chapter of the ew Yor
Folklore Society, i researching
the history of children at play
on t of e York.
The result are to be published
in boo form and exhibited
in the city's public library.
Their. re arch to date silo
our children' remar ble bility
to transform almost any environ-
ment into a playground -
including the sometimes un­
friendly streets of ew Y ork
City.
A child s im gination can
tum the rungs of a fire es pe
into a hoop for ba etball.
A vacant lot becomes the per­
fect site for a fortress. A ewe",
gr ting mark a homerun for
stick ball player .
Children have always been
resourceful, resercher found,
quick to dapt their games
to a changing environment.
When streest were paved, mar­
bles gave way to " elly,"
a game in which players flick
bottle caps through a gridwork
hich bas been drawn on a
street or sidewalk. When auto­
mobiles became common-place
in 1920$, parked c rs were
incorporated into the tickball
game a b . With the spread
of high-rise apartment building
came a new version of a classic
game: elevator tag.
. Poor children, who have the
1 t to art with, are among
the most creative in their play,
the researcher found. ake­
shift clubhou and home-made
go-carts are common ight in
even the poorest city neighbor­
hoods. Simple games like
hide-and- ek and double-dutch
jump rope are still popular
there. "A lot of kids till make
do with nothing," one of the
report's re archers commented.
One d note: the researcher
are also finding that high rates of
street crime have driven many
children inside and kept them in
front of their televi on ts.
Our children need things to
do, and recreation can play an
important part in providing
them with activities. We need
to make re that all children
ha e the p y ce they need
to learn, grow, imagine and
have fun.
DECE SER 2 - 8, 1985 THE CITIZEN
QUESTIO : Following my
husband's death, I began receiv­
ing Social Security payments.
Unfortunately, I was recently
laid off from my job. Will tho
Social Security payments affect
how much I receive in unem-:'
ployment benefits?
SWE: 0, Social
Security p �ents t
reduce your entitlement to un­
employment benefit ,nor ould
they ba reduced your hu
band'. unemployment benefit .
Soc' Security benefit are
con . erect a retirement benefit.
If a 0 er contrfbute SO
percent or more to the co of
are' ment benefit, it . not
used to reduce unemployment
benefit Since 0 do
contribute toward half the co
of the' Social Security benefit ,
there i no deduction from their
u ployment compen tion
for reeei Social Security
payment
QUESTIO : My co-workers
will be going out on strike soon.
When they do, will I be eligible
for unemployment benefits?
SWER: If your un m­
ployment i due to a labor
dispute amon any group of
wOIrken in the e "e b' -
you, then you and
will be eli ualifaed
u ployment
If you have a question for
MESC, send it to f� MESC, "
7310 Woodward, Room 505,
Detroit, MI 48202. Unfor­
tunately, it is not possible to
answer or acknowledge each
letter.
benefits.
Althouah you may not be a
member of .
•
Theel z n
Icom your opinion.
Send your cotnm n to:
The Cltlz , P.O. Box 21 e
8 ntOn Harbor, I 41022
5
Dept. -of HUD
Detroit Area
Office
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SORRY, r. Nielsen,
But Jack· O'Brien is
1
definitely a no,no.