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NOTE: Adapt this fact sheet to your state and community. For state data, go to www.afterschoolalliance.org/america_3pm.cfm
The Afterschool Hours in America
- More
than 14 million school age children (25%) are on their
own after school. Among them are more than 40,000
kindergarteners. (America After 3 PM, May 2004)
- The
parents of more than 28 million school-age children
work outside the home. (U.S. Department of Labor)
- Only
6.5 million K-12 children (11%) participate in afterschool
programs. An additional 15 million would participate
if a quality program were available in their community.
(America After 3 PM, May 2004)
- The
hours between 3p.m. and 6p.m. are the peak hours for
juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol,
cigarettes and sex. (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids,
2002)
- 9
in 10 Americans want all children and teens to have
some type of organized activity or safe place to go
after school. (Election Eve Poll, November 2004)
- More
than half of voters (55 percent) think that there
are not enough afterschool programs available for
children in America today. (Afterschool Alliance
Poll, September 2003)
Afterschool Programs Benefit Youth, Families & Communities
- Teens
who do not participate in afterschool programs are
nearly three times more likely to skip classes than
teens who do participate. They are also three times
more likely to use marijuana or other drugs, and they
are more likely to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes
and engage in sexual activity. (YMCA of the USA,
March 2001)
- Parents
in New York City said that their child's afterschool
program helped them balance work and family life (Policy
Studies Associates, Inc., February 2001):
- 60 percent said they missed less work than before
because of the program.
- 59 percent said it supported them in keeping
their jobs.
- Students
in a statewide program in California improved their
standardized test scores (SAT-9) in both reading and
math by percentages almost twice that of other students
and also had better school attendance. The program
cut high school drop out by 20%. (University of
California Irvine, May 2001 and March 2006)
- Boys
and girls in the Quantum Opportunities afterschool
program were half as likely to drop out of high school
and two and one half times more likely to go on to
further education after high school than their peers.
(Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2000)
- A
Brandeis University study estimates that decreased
worker productivity due to stress and absenteeism
caused by issues related to afterschool care arrangements
costs employers $496.00 to $1,984.00 per employee,
per year, depending on the employee's annual salary.
(Community, Families and Work Program at Brandeis
University, 2004)
- Students
(pre-k through 8th grade) in The After-School Corporation
(TASC) supported afterschool programs improved their
math scores and regular school day attendance compared
to non-participants. High school level afterschool
participants passed more Regent exams and earned more
high school credits than non-participants. (Policy
Studies Associates, July 2004)
- Eighty-seven
percent of Citizen Schools' eighth grade participants
were promoted to tenth grade on time, while only seventy-four
percent of non-participants achieved that objective.
This is critical, since earning promotion to tenth
grade on-time is a key predictor of high-school graduation
(i.e., preventing drop-out).
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