Essay: Why kids need an afterschool centre / youth club

On July 25th 2010 there was a body found in Beaucoup Creek under a bridge on Cudge Town Road. The body was identified as a fifteen-year-old girl by the name of Sidnee Stephens. Sidnee wasn’t a bad kid, but with nothing to do in her free time she began to hang out with the wrong people. This caused her to lose her life. On July 18th she first went missing. She was taken by four guys and her step sister while her mom was asleep. They proceeded to shoot and strangle her, then dump her body in a nearby creek. Imagine what her mother must of thought when she was told about her death… Think about how she must of felt when she found out that her other daughter was involved… If Sidnee had a place to go after school to learn, have fun, and make friends that had similar interests, would she still be alive today? This is why Pinckneyville should have an afterschool center.
Not only would it give kids a place to go after school, but it would also prevent them from participating in risky behavior and it gets kids under supervision. For example it offers a safe haven to children. More and more families consist of two full time working parents or a single parent that works a full time job. This causes kids to be left unsupervised for many hours a week. Meaning that they are more likely to be sexually active and are at risk for sexually transmitted diseases. Many middle schoolers and high schoolers recognize the value of participating in after school activities outside of school since students spent seventy five percent of their waking hours outside of school. Since many children are left alone due to their parents working to provide for their family older children have an opportunity to get into trouble or get into the wrong crowd. It has been proven to decrease in delinquency and violent behavior, such as drug and alcohol use. Other positive effects include increased knowledge of safe sex avoidance of sexual activity, reduction in juvenile crime. According  to Amy Magin Wong from Harvard University the hours from three to six are the peak time for juvenile crime and the hours that sixteen and seventeen year olds are most likely to be in a car crash. By having an afterschool center kids have an outlet for creativity and it provides a place for kids to hang out.
Since many kids are left alone at home by themselves this can cause them to feel as if they don’t belong and are alone causing them to get into trouble or involved with the wrong people.  An activity center would help to give kids a sense of belonging while exposing them to new interests. Decades of research and evaluation studies confirms that children and youth who participate in afterschool programs show positive benefits in a number of interrelated outcome areas, including social-emotional, health, and wellness. According to Kate Kelly it helps with childhood obesity, promotes general health, fitness, and wellness by keeping kids active and fostering the importance of healthy behaviors and providing healthy snacks. It would help children to make better food choices starting at a young age. It also helps to increase children’s knowledge of nutrition and health practices while increasing physical activity in children. (Kelly) It helps to reduce body mass index, improves blood pressure, and improves body image. Over the last fifteen years after school programs have grown exponentially over the last 15 years. (Wong) Many afterschool programs focus less on academics and more on improving young people’s social and developmental challenges; like social skills, self-esteem, self-concept issues, initiative, and leadership skills. (Wong)  By participating in an afterschool program kids can make new friends that have similar interests. (Wong) It can also help kids to develop many skills that they can use in their life. (Wong) Not only does it have many benefits towards the overall health of children but by improving kids body images can cause kids to feel better about themselves, reducing their level of depression. (Wong)
An afterschool center wouldn’t just help with mental and physical attributes of children, but it would also provide a place where kids could get help academically. Research shows that young people benefit from consistent participation in a well ran after school program. Jane L. David says students who studied in a high quality program showed improvements in academic performance. Homework help from an afterschool program can reduce battles at home. Afterschool programs help academic performance, better attitude, higher educational aspirations, higher school attendance rates, and lower tardiness rates, less disciplinary action such as suspension and lower dropout rates. (David) It also helps kids to give better performance on tests and grades, helps to give kids significant gains in academic achievement, greater on time promotion, improved homework completion, and deeper engagement in learning. (David) Children tend to be attracted to programs that provide something different from their school day.
Many may say that an afterschool center would take time away from parents to spend with their child or that students schedules are too busy. If this is indeed true then why is it proven that more and more households consist of two full time working parents or a single parent that works full time. This causes many kids to be left at home alone allowing them to get in trouble, not to mention that it puts them at risk for being sexually active and getting sexually transmitted diseases (Wong) . Or why is it proven that after school hours are the prime time for juvenile victimization and crime. (Wong) An afterschool center helps to reduce homework battles at home. A child can go to the activity center, get their homework done. Then play till their parents are off work, this means the child is under supervision, their homework is done, and they cant go out on the streets and get in trouble. So they have plenty of time to spend with their family.
Many kids often get into trouble after school. After all between three and six pm the risk of violent juvenile crime and victimization are 60 percent higher then it is from eight pm to twelve am on non school days. Sidnee Stephens was fifteen when she died. She wasn’t a kid who always got into trouble. She was an innocent kid who got involved with the wrong people. Unfortunately for her she ended up paying for this little mistake with her life. Maybe if she had a place to go after school she would still be alive. By having a positive place for kids to go learn, have a blast, and meet people who have similar interests, maybe we can help to prevent others from becoming like Sidnee Stephens.