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BY REQUEST...
JANUARY 1999
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The Current Situation
Just how many children go home alone every day after school? There is clear evidence that the number of students in the United States left without some kind of adult supervision after school is large and growing (Marx, 1989; U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice, 1998). Consider the following statistics:
- By current estimates, there are over 28 million children in the United States with parent(s) who work outside the home. Of those 28 million, about five to seven million students go home alone every day after school and are without any adult supervision (U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice, 1998).
- Between 1970 and 1990, the proportion of American children under the age of 18 with mothers in the labor force rose from 39 percent to 62 percent (U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice, 1998).
- As students become age 10 and older, more and more of them are left home alone. For example, about 35 percent of 12-year-olds are left by themselves regularly while their parents are at work (U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice, 1998).
- The average American child spends 900 hours a year in school and 1,500 hours a year watching television (Alter, 1998). Many of these hours in front of the TV take place after school. Often the TV is the best after-school care available to the working poor.
It is clear that even with some support from federal, state, and local governments, there continues to be a lack of quality after-school options for many students and their families. Parent surveys often find that affordable after-school programs are not available. Fortunately, there is evidence that schools are beginning to respond to this need. Between the 1987-88 school year and the 1993-94 school year the availability of extended-day programs among public elementary and combined schools nearly doubled, from 16 percent to 30 percent (DeAngelis & Rossi, 1997). However, parents with students attending the other 70 percent of schools in this country still have reason for concern. Specifically, parents in rural areas and parents of middle school students are often left with very few choices for the after-school care of their children. Only 18.3 percent of rural schools offered extended day programs in the 1993-94 school year, well below the national average of 30 percent (National Center for Education Statistics, 1996). Some small communities offer after-school options for elementary school students, but choices for middle school students are few and far between.
Surprisingly, many parents and voters would like (and are willing to help pay for) after-school programs for children. This is evidenced by a number of studies and surveys that indicate a high level of public support. Following are some examples of the most recent findings:
- A recent national survey about after-school programs indicates that participants and their families are generally happy with them, but that the key criterion for satisfaction is simply their existence; parents are relieved that their children have a safe place to go after school (Schwartz, 1996).
- 74 percent of elementary and middle school parents said they would be willing to pay for such a program, yet only about 31 percent of primary school parents and 39 percent of middle school parents reported that their children actually attended an after-school program at school (U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice, 1998).
- Currently the estimated demand for school-based after-school programs exceeds the supply by a rate of about two to one (U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice, 1998).
- In a recent poll, 78 percent of voters strongly agreed that there should be some type of organized activity or place for children and teens to go after school. A majority of those polled felt that after-school programs should take place in public schools, and seven in 10 were willing to pay more taxes to make programs available to all children (Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, 1998b).
There is little doubt that after-school programs have the power to positively impact the lives of youth, and to enhance the communities they touch, regardless of their scope or sponsoring agency. The current importance of after-school efforts was officially recognized in 1998 when Congress allocated $40 million to fund after-school programs, and has since approved an additional $200 million for 1999. The initiative is known as 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) program (authorized under Title X, Part I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) and provides funding by competitive grants to rural and inner-city public schools to establish or expand after-school programs. Although the statute requires these programs to offer a broad range of services to address the educational, health, social services, cultural, and recreational needs of the community, grants awarded through this program must focus primarily on providing children and youth with expanded learning opportunities in a safe, drug-free environment.
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© 2001
Date of Last Update: 09/19/2001
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