What Are Kids Doing After School?

What Are Kids Doing After School?

When School is Out
The Future of Children, Fall 1999
Available free from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation,
300 Second St., Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 94022 or www.futureofchildren.org

More than three out of four mothers with children ages 6 to 13 are in the labor force. Since the school day is shorter than the typical work day, who is talking care of those kids?

When School is Out is the Fall 1999 issue of The Future of Children, a series of free publications of the Packard Foundation. Most of the articles in this report are very useful in describing what is known about America’s school age children, and what they need to thrive in after-school activities.

According to the chapter on After-School Child Care Programs by Deborah Lowe Vandell, Ph.D. and Lee Shumrow, Ph.D., one-third of children between 5-12 who have working mothers are cared for by a parent when they are not in school. That is possible either because one parent worked part-time or because parents worked different shifts that enabled them to be with their children after school. Another third are cared for by relatives, sitters, and family child care providers. Only 4 percent care for themselves and their siblings. The remaining 29 percent are in after-school centers or enrichment activities. The focus of this report are on those latter two groups.

Vandell and Shumrow point out that the reported 4 percent who care for themselves is deceptive, because the number of children who are sometimes on their own is much higher, and the proportion increases greatly for the older children. For example, in direct interviews with children, researchers found that 44 percent of third graders spent at least some of their after-school time in unsupervised settings. These numbers have important implications for public policy: another study found that third graders who spent more time alone after school had more behavior problems while they were in third grade, and when they were studied two years later.

In his chapter on After-School Programs for Low-Income Children in Boston, Chicago, and Seattle, Robert Halpern from the Erikson Institute in Chicago reported that most offer a mix of homework help, snacks, free time, arts and crafts, games, gym, cultural awareness activities, and field trips. That sounds good, but he points out that researchers rated two-thirds of the programs as fair to poor on most of the program quality attributes, such as the quantity and quality of staff, adequacy of facilities and equipment, a flexible and relaxed schedule, and a predictable environment.

In her excellent overview, The Development of Children Ages 6 to 14, Jacqueline Eccles, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan, points out that these years can be an exciting time, or a time of declining motivation, mental health, and involvement with schools and organized activity programs. While some experts believe that after school programs should focus on remedial and advanced placement school-like activities, Eccles has a different vision, of programs that allow kids to express their individuality, master new skills, and seek emotional support from adults. She explains the importance of combining security and comfort with expanding leadership opportunities, including community service, that recognize and respect children’s increasing maturity.

In her chapter Where Need Meets Opportunity on youth development programs for early teens, Jane Quinn of the DeWitt-Wallace Readers Digest Fund lists ten characteristics that comprise "best practices for "responsive community programs." For example, these programs should:

Tailor their content and processes to the needs and interests of the kids
Value and respond to the diversity of backgrounds and experiences of the kids
Be accessible to those who are underserved
Actively compete to attract kids
Recruit and invest in the best possible staff and volunteers
Advocate with and on behalf of the youth
Be clear about the intended results of the program

The final chapter, by Nancy Kerrebrock and Eugene Levitt of the Packard

Foundation, provide a chilling reminder that in some homes in America, very young children are totally unsupervised on a regular basis. For example, although only 1 percent of preschool-age children are taking care of themselves on a regular basis at least once each week, that translates to 67,000 children. The percentage more than doubles for children ages 5 to 7.

Overall, this report provides ample evidence that after school care has a great deal of potential that has not yet been reached.

This article is based on Diana Zuckerman's monthly Research Watch columns that appeared in Youth Today in issues from November 1999 through February 2001, and was reprinted with permission. Youth Today is a publication of the American Youth Work Center, 1200 17th St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20036. (800) 599-2455. E-mail: youthtoday@aol.com