Afterschool Problems

On the other hand, this research emphasizes how one’s family background and the surrounding neighborhood as specific contexts that impact individuals psychologically. In my opinion, higher SES families may live in wealthier communities that have better educational resources and environment. At this point, human development tend to be context specific instead of universal. As what we learned in class, poverty brings negative impacts to children, which is the biggest risk for parenting as well. More specifically, parents/caregivers bring direct influences to their children, and the neighborhood is one of the vital factors that impact children simultaneously. (Cole’s lecture, April & May 2017).

Low income families steam from uneducated parents. Some of these families have parents that did not finish school, or they struggled in school. These parents tend to be less active in their child’s education because they do not understand the work themselves. Some of them skip out on parent teacher conferences because they do not want to feel threaten. They feel that they may not understand what the teacher is talking about, and do not want to feel uneducated. According to Zachrisson and Dearing (2015), “Low family income heightens the risk of stress in the home environment, resulting in heightened levels of conflict, parenting strain, and chaos” (pg. 425). These types of homes make the children feel uncomfortable, and they feel as if they do not have any support from home. These students come home from school to homes that are divided, and feel as if they

More parents than ever these days are working outside of the home. This means that when the school bell rings, many children are left unsupervised and with no where to go but an empty house with no supervision. Not only that, but some parents are also struggling to provide adequate after-school care. Either they cannot afford the monthly payments of a daycare, or the programs are just simply not available to them. (Ansell, 2004).

The United States is the richest nation, yet millions of Americans live below the poverty line and millions more struggle every month. The children in society today living in poverty is increasing daily. The majority of these children are from single-parent homes where sometimes parents are not working or have become disabled and therefore cannot work. Children who are raised in foster care and leave as adults do not have strong relationship ties most of the time and are at an increased risk for experiencing poverty, early parenthood and homelessness (American School Board Journal, 2007). The reason for most of the poverty in the United States is due to low family incomes.

Families require stabilized housing that is affordable, safe and maintained. If they don’t have stabile housing they are moving more often and this can effect the children’s education when being moved from school to school. The parents are unable to focus on the other areas of their lives when they are unable to find decent housing.

This causes many of these individuals to take on the mindset of, “why bother, I’m going to end up moving. This is not worth the investment of my emotion and my time” (Page 1104). Studies show that because foster homes are more often unstable than stable. In the Pacific Northwest, 65% of former foster children had attended seven or more schools beginning in elementary school through  high school. Other studies show that children tend to lose between four and six months of educational progress per school change. Reasons being curriculum changes, teacher changes, and previous school records often don't transfer at all or in a timely fashion. Curriculum changes impose obstacles when a child in the third grade might have previously studied multiplication facts but in their new school they are studying division facts. When a child first joined the class with the new teacher, it can be difficult for the teacher to narrow down the child's capabilities, struggles, and learning styles. And finally, when a student's records don't transfer, he or she may be placed in an incorrect grade, causing them to struggle for reasons such as being behind and not understanding, or being ahead and being held back. All of these factors can discourage and leave children unmotivated to catch up. They increasingly fall behind and are less likely to catch up. These academic factors often times discourage students in their social life as well. They find it not worth their while to invest academically or socially. Activities such as ballgames, prom, homecoming, and  graduation are all apart of a high school student's experience. Because of the emotional withdrawal of foster children, they are unlikely to attend these school functions, leading them to have even less to relate with other

The overview of these three programs and attaining them is optimal, essentially a cycle of opportunity. By providing these services it develops a base for a long-term goal of achieving self-sufficiency and out of poverty. However, the accessibility of these beneficial resources may be difficult to obtain based on eligibility. New ideas that may help improve or reduce disparities in future programs can begin by concentrating on and expanding educational resources. For instance, a program that holds educational sessions on a monthly base, targeting communities, informing families of available resources and assisting with the application process. Another idea would be collaborating with the school system, specifically low-income based communities. After school program can be initiated to target parents that need assistance with extra resources and services. Lastly, innovating a classroom setting program for the duration of one-year, furthering educational and leadership ability for

The New Jersey State Department of Education received government, state, and local funding for youths ages 5-17, as part of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program. The question is; how can the states revise and disperse the amount of funding allocated for after-school programs for the current number of children enrolled? How can we raise awareness about the higher enrollment after-school programs offered for children of all ages? The current data shows the ratio of children enrolled versus the number of children not enrolled, offset the amount of dispersed funds, and varies state to state. The New Jersey Department of education allocates the funded money towards after-school programs housed at public schools with a high enrollment rate while other states do not. This leaves a huge gap in society with not enough funds creatively used towards youth programs. Children of all ages should have access to an after- school educational program and support from within their community. Common motivational goals set forth in the evaluation for this program are, for children to receive the enhancement of moral values, equality, and diversity through after-school educational programs within their local school districts. This evaluation is based on the logic model format and designed to meet the needs and demands assessment criteria. Weighing the outcome of an economical developed society in which graduation rates will increase. While, in past the government started

While living in the Residence, we will be working with the Boys and Girls Club of the Cedar Valley in Waterloo. They offer a safe and educational environment to kids, specifically those at-risk, to spend time with their friends and participate in activities put on by staff and volunteers. This gives these kids opportunities that they might not have had access to elsewhere, and it prevents them from finding more dangerous activities in some of their communities. In a bigger city like Waterloo, there is a higher population of at-risk children and teenagers who choose to go to an after-school program like the Boys and Girls Club instead of doing more dangerous activities. Statistically, there are more lower-income families with children who are a part of after-school programs like this because parents are not always available to provide after-school care, which makes them more likely to fall into trouble. We became aware of the need for volunteers in places like the Boys and Girls Club through our own experiences working with teenagers who have gotten into trouble because they did not have this resource.

Children living in poverty or low-income neighborhoods are known to have lifelong struggles because of their education. The link between poverty and poor education is a known fact because children living in poverty will rather provide for their families than their own education. As a community, we need to come together to help low-income families and their children obtain a better future in their education. The effects of children living in poverty or low-income neighborhoods is a known issue worldwide and is only affecting our children’s future and ours.

All children need a safe place to be after school with caring, responsible adults and engaging activities that connect each child to his/her school, family and community. One method to provide this is through an after-school program. After school programs are any organized program, which invites children to participate in the traditional school day. In Lynda Barry´s essay, “The Sanctuary of School”, the author describes how the school helped her feel in a better environment since his parents had many problems and did not pay enough attention to her. Yes, Barry´s assessment of after-school programs is accurate. They are very important to children because from a social aspect it helps the children develop relationships, get them out of their comfort zones to try new things, meet new people, and overall improve on their general outlook on situations they may not have engaged on their own.

The presentation on Nashville After Zone Alliance (NAZA) was given by Ms. Candy Markman, the organization’s coordinator, and Ms. Rachel Roseberry, the literacy coach. They were each knowledgeable about the program and were dynamic because Rachel was relatively new to the field and Ms. Markman has worked in it for years and is increasingly aware of the struggles of working for children’s rights. I enjoyed hearing about each of their journeys that led to their interest in after-school programming. Ms. Markman described how she worked for a not-for-profit, in funding, and finally was led to working in the public sector. Her experience working in these various positions informed her that after-school programming needed attention and gave her

After- school programs have been around for long time. However, their initial purpose was different than what is demanded in today’s society. The after school program was originally developed in urban communities in response to the decline in child labor and the rise in mandatory schooling. This combination altered the day of an urban child. The child would go to school, and come home with nothing to do. They could not work anymore because of child labor laws. With this being a new law, parents did not know what to do with their children because they had to work into the late hours of the evening. Also, urban housing had unkempt, undesirable conditions for living. This caused many

About one in five children in the United States has the misfortune of living in a family whose income is below the official poverty threshold (Borman and Reimers 454). Poverty has harmful effects on a child’s academic outcomes, general health, development, and school readiness. The impact of poverty has on a child depends on many factors for instance community features ( crime rate in neighborhood and school characteristics) and the individuals present in the child’s life like their parents, neighbors, or relatives. It is clear that schools and outside environmental factors contribute to whether a child is successful or not in their academic life. A child’s family, neighborhood, and type of school effects that are related with poverty

Poverty is a considerable social problem; with a significant impact on those who suffer within. Growing up in poverty “reduces a child’s chance of growing up to be a healthy, well-adjusted, and contributing adult in our society” (Crosson-Tower, 2014, p. 59). Poverty is families having to struggle to afford necessities. Poverty does not know where your next meal is coming from or having to choose between paying rent and seeing a health care provider. The impact of poverty affects one’s ability through physical, social, emotional, and educational health. Even though individual overcome poverty it still extends across cultural, racial, ethnic, and geographical borders. Children represent the largest group of poverty in the United States. “Growing up in poverty places a child at a profound disadvantage and substantially lowers the chances that the child will mature into a well-adjusted, productive, and contributing