Experts say after-school activities important for latchkey children

Experts say after-school activities important for latchkey children By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

It’s better for children if they aren’t left alone after school, according to experts.

At the end of the school day, many local kids head home to an empty house. This is especially true of middle-school students because they’re too old for childcare and too young to drive to organized recreational or study-time activities.

"Child supervision and parent involvement is important for all age groups," said Cathy Skiba, director of pupil services for Oak Park Unified School District.

At the middle-school level, it’s especially important that children get guidance and support from their parents, she said. 

Sixth, seventh and eighth grades are challenging times for young people. In their day-to-day lives, all middle-school children need guidance and help from adults.

As they mature, adolescents seek more independence and the freedom to make their own decisions. Sometimes, however, the children want too much too soon, and they still need limits.

"It is expected that students will challenge adults, but they will respect consistent and fair boundaries––even if they don’t let adults know this," said Skiba. 

"Tweens" and young teenagers need to maintain mentally and physically healthy lifestyles that provide time and support for school work. It’s also important that they have social opportunities, such as involvement in supervised groups or extracurricular activities.

Each child should focus on something that he or she has interest or ability in, according to Skiba. 

Whether it’s a sport, a hobby or another organized and supervised activity, young people need recreational outlets that enable mental growth and self-expression, which help keep them on the right track.

But too often latchkey children instead go home to an empty dwelling.

According to statistics gathered by the Afterschool Alliance, 22 percent of California children in working families are unsupervised in the afternoons. Only 14 percent of children in California working families are enrolled in after-school programs, while the parents of 36 percent said they’d probably enroll their children in a program if one were available.

Budget constraints, however, often make it impossible for public schools to provide before- and after-school care.

"It always boils down to funding," said Ronald Kaiser, principal of Lindero Canyon Middle School in Agoura Hills.

Local cities sometimes offer programs for young teens, but they’re rarely permanent, Kaiser said.

"We have a lot of work to do in creating after-school opportunities for our kids," said California Afterschool ambassador John Poch, executive director of After-School All-Stars in San Jose. 

"It’s past time to translate rhetoric into funding and ensure that after-school programs are available to every California family that needs them," Poch said.

However, teens are choosy; they want a certain degree of independence and choice when they attend organized programs.

Lindero Canyon once tried to utilize the YMCA for after-school programs for students, but there wasn’t enough demand to sustain the program, Kaiser said. "Lots of kids have lessons and activities after school, or they attend religious school," he said.

Too many children still go home to empty houses, and in middle school, they’re too young to be left alone, said Kaiser.

They can take care of themselves physically—fix a snack, for instance—and local communities are usually safe. But it would be better if every middle-school student could find supervised activities, according to Kaiser, safe places to have fun or study.

Such programs, however, must come from outside agencies, not schools, Kaiser said.

On a social level, middle-school children desperately need places where they can feel comfortable and spend time with their friends doing constructive things instead of congregating at a mall, said Linda White, chief executive officer for the Simi Valley Boys & Girls Club. To be successful, such programs must offer more than childcare, she said.

"The club gives them an opportunity to hang with their friends in a safe place," she said. It offers things to do and it’s flexible, according to White.

Her observations were echoed by another Boys & Girls Club spokeswoman.

"It’s not just for working parents," said Barbara Bronson Gray, marketing director for the Conejo Valley/Las Virgenes Boys & Girls Clubs. Teenagers need both guidance and independence, she said.

Tiffany Johnson, 13, who was selected for the Youth of the Year award by the Moorpark Boys & Girls Club, has been going to the club for four years.

She first went because both of her parents work and she had nowhere to go after school. But Johnson quickly found that the club enabled her to spend time with friends while she was safe and involved in activities.

Many of the kids who choose not to join are usually quiet and may like being alone, she said. "They’re afraid of sharing their emotions, but if they went to the club, they may open up a little," said Johnson.

When left without supervision, kids run the risk of choosing the wrong friends and getting into trouble, she said. "That’s because they don’t know what else is out there besides what people tell them," Johnson said.

Supporters of Boys & Girls Clubs find other advantages.

"The club helps parents, teachers, law enforcement officials and businesses," said John Macik, general manager and vice president for Santa Paula Chevrolet. "If the kids weren’t at the club, they may be home alone or out on the streets," he said.