By replacing unsupervised hours spent exposed to dangerous influences on a street corner with hours spent under supervision, after-school programs might be expected to eliminate all or most of the crimes participating youngsters might otherwise commit during those hours. It is difficult to predict voluntary participation rates, much less to predict how many teens might be required to participate by their parents. In addition, if quality after-school programs were accessible to all families, some localities might choose to require for children of specified ages that parents either provide supervision themselves, or make arrangements for alternative adult supervision. Recent research makes clear that the impact of after-school and other quality programs for children and youth far exceeds the Safe Haven and Control effect. Beginning in the first months and building steadily, quality after-school programs can be expected to have an enormous impact on the attitudes, values and skills of participating children.
Children spend only about one hour in school for every five hours awake.
How they spend the other four hours, not surprisingly, plays a major role in their development. Quality programs help children learn the skills they need to succeed academically, gain experience in serving their communities, and develop the attitudes, values and skills they need to contribute as good neighbors, family members and citizens. Developmental risks for latchkey children and youth. The need for after-school care has grown dramatically in recent years. However, two-thirds of this increase is a result of the increased number of families in which both parents work outside the home, often by necessity.