ONE IN FIVE NEW ENGLAND CHILDREN UNSUPERVISED AFTER SCHOOL
Across New England, one in five children has no safe, supervised
activity after the school day ends. The lack of adult supervision means
these children are left to take care of themselves at a time of day when
juvenile crime peaks, and when a range of inappropriate behaviors
beckon, including drugs and alcohol, gangs and teen sex. Those are
among the findings of New England After 3 PM, a new report from the
Afterschool Alliance that was released in conjunction with the
Massachusetts Governor's Afterschool Summit in Boston.
While much work remains to be done before families' need for afterschool
programs is met, New England nevertheless is showing signs of seizing
national leadership in providing afterschool for all, the report says.
Through regional commitment and cooperation, the area's schoolchildren
could one day have the best afterschool opportunities in the nation.
Made possible by support from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, the
report is the first ever to focus on afterschool across New England. It
was released in late May after Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's
Afterschool Summit in Boston. The event featured experts from all six
New England states, as well as Nellie Mae Education Foundation President
and CEO Blenda Wilson.
According to New England After 3 PM:
* Only 14 percent of New England schoolchildren (just over
347,600) participate in afterschool programs, while 22 percent (just
over 546,200) are alone and unsupervised during the hours after school.
* Unmet demand for afterschool across the region is high; the
parents of more than 640,000 New England children would sign their
children up for afterschool if a program were available.
* The overwhelming majority of parents of children in
afterschool programs approve of the care their children receive: 88
percent of New England parents are extremely or somewhat satisfied with
the afterschool program their child attends.
"We're hoping New England policy makers will recognize the merit of
working together as a region to make afterschool available to all
children, and set a brisk pace for the rest of the nation," said
Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant. "Working
separately, the states have made good progress and, indeed, only
California is outpacing the region as a whole. But there's much more to
do."
New England After 3 PM identifies a number of successful afterschool
initiatives in the region, including Citizen Schools, BELL and
SquashBusters in Massachusetts; Providence Afterschool Alliance,
Afterzones and Community Schools in Rhode Island; Out of School Matters!
in New Hampshire; and the EdGE in Maine. To view the report, visit
www.afterschoolalliance.org/NE_after_3pm.pdf.
7/18/06
