Safe Schools | NW Education

New Attitude Part 3

OPENING DOORS TO LATCHKEY KIDS
After-school programs are another area where savvy educators are focusing their attention. In an age of single parents and double-income families, an increasing number of children are being left on their own after school. Lacking constructive activities, these "latchkey" kids are more inclined, at best, to spend hours watching television or hanging out with their peers and, at worst, to engage in a number of risky behaviors.
Safe and Smart: Making the After-School Hours Work for Kids, a 1998 report jointly published by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, cites plenty of reasons for developing quality after-school programs, including:

Children and teens who are unsupervised during the hours after school are "far more likely to use alcohol, drugs, and tobacco, engage in criminal and other high-risk behaviors, receive poor grades, and drop out of school"
Recent data compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation make clear that the peak hours for violent juvenile crime are from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
A 1994 Harris poll in which more than half of teachers singled out "children who are left on their own after school" as the primary explanation of students' difficulties in class

Instead of sending kids out on the streets or home to empty houses, after-school programs provide safe havens where children can reinforce classroom learning, participate in sports and recreational activities, and build healthy relationships with peers and adults. By giving kids positive alternatives, quality programs can make the hours after school the time for engaging, enriching activities.

When the school day ends at Neil Armstrong Middle School in Forest Grove, Oregon, most of the kids hoist their backpacks and head for the exits. Not so for 30 energetic boys and girls making a beeline to the gym, where they "six step" and "windmill" to rhythmic hip-hop beats. These lucky kids are members of the Mid-City Breakers, a hugely popular after-school break-dancing club run by Washington County Special Deputy Sheriff Tomas Sepulveda, who is also the school's safety resource officer.

Break dancing gives the kids a strenuous workout and an opportunity for self-expression through dance and music. Sepulveda believes the program boosts students' self-esteem and combats shyness because participants are required to develop a routine and perform individually in front of large audiences. The troupe has performed in several schools, at parades and fairs, on television, and even during a half-time show at a Portland Trail Blazers basketball game.

Nearly three years ago, Sepulveda was patrolling the school after hours and came across a group of boys break dancing in the halls. When he told them they had to leave, the boys protested that they just needed a place with a smooth floor to practice their dance moves. "They didn't have anywhere else to go," Sepulveda says. "So I approached the principal about letting them use the school after hours." The principal agreed, as long as Sepulveda would take responsibility for the kids.

Attendance quickly grew as word of the program spread, and now the school gym is a hub of activity during practice every afternoon. Other kids show up to watch, sprawled on the floor talking or working on homework in the chairs in front of the stage. The program is officially open to seventh- and eighth-grade students from the middle school, but it has become so popular that fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-graders, as well as high school students, now regularly attend.

Sepulveda's rules for participation are simple but strict:

1. Go to school.

2. Get good grades. Kids have to maintain at least a 2.0 grade-point average or they cannot participate in performances.

3. Stay out of trouble. Students can have no more than two administrative referrals in one semester, must respect teachers and peers, and cannot be involved in gangs.

Research shows that children, especially adolescents, crave excitement and group activity. If they can't find it in structured programs, they become far more likely to find it in gangs. The students in the Mid-City Breakers tend to be those who are not participating in sports or other extracurricular activities, due to lack of funds or interest, Sepulveda notes. He has created a program that kids look forward to because it involves an activity that naturally draws them. This means they show up every day and follow Sepulveda's rules.

Tim Greseth, who is the Director of Corps Programs for the Forest Grove School District and coordinates a variety of extended school-day activities in Washington County, believes that getting kids excited about coming is a crucial first step in a successful after-school program. "You have to capture them by getting their attention," he stresses. "It shouldn't be more of the same. A good after-school program must be novel, engaging, exciting stuff. Then they'll come."

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Date of Last Update: 9/28/01
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