It’s 3 O’Clock,Where Is Your Student?
 By Samantha Gianulis

     When the bell rings at the end of school, where do your kids go? If they are in after-school care, or perhaps with a parent or guardian after school lets out, your child is fortunate. The alternative is self-care, which is the dilemma facing twenty-two percent of California’s K-12 youth and their families. To know that your child is safe and cared for while not with you is an ideal situation for working parents. But for some families, after-school care is not affordable or available. Not even 6 to 6, an after-school program operated by the YMCA for elementary school children, is offered in every area. The Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness about after-school care, recently conducted a household survey called “America After 3 p.m.” In their survey, 42,819 kindergartners nationwide take care of themselves after school, which works out to approximately seven hours unsupervised care per week. For a child in grade school, those hours are lonely with potentially tragic results. Until there is a solution that fits into every budget and fills every neighborhood, how can these children in self-care be prevented from falling through the cracks?

     I would call my kindergartner an aware child. He knows what to do if there is an emergency, he doesn’t talk to strangers, but the thought of him being alone at this age frightens me. If I couldn’t take care of him after school, I would arm myself with information about organizations that could. Throughout San Diego there are many organizations that fill the need of quality after-school care. In addition to the YMCA, Harmonium offers child care, recreation and counseling in 74 before- and after-school child care centers in San Diego County. They also operate the San Diego Regional Teen Center, also known as the Epicentre, a 5,260 square foot facility across the street from Mira Mesa High School. While a teenager doesn’t need the same type of supervision as a second-grader, certain freedoms afforded to teenagers can lead to trouble. Teens need a safe place to go after school to play pool, lounge at a café or try a vocation on for size; it beats being alone, or with the wrong crowd.

     What Does It Cost? The Afterschool Alliance reports that California families spend between $18-$48 per week on after-school care, depending on qualifying incomes. This is money well spent to keeping a child safe, considering the fact that 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. are the peak hours for juvenile crime and violence. Still, some children don’t find their way to these after-school care centers. The America After 3 p.m. survey reports: “Of the after-school program participants, 66 percent are kindergarten through fifth grade, 15 percent are in grades 6-8, and 8 percent are in grades 9-12 (11 percent of children in after-school care are in unidentified grades).”

     For middle-schoolers, there is a significant drop in after-school care, even though many agree that these years are critical ones for preteens with idle time. Sixth graders are exposed to things they have never seen before, and they need strong mentors to help them handle their new surroundings and adjust to older children. Nancy Murry, a San Carlos mother of three, says of 6 to 6, “I was thrilled when the program started including middle school. Most programs would stop at twelve years old and that is still too young to be home alone.” Nancy’s son attended the 6 to 6 program at Pershing Middle School in San Carlos. “I can stay at working knowing exactly where my child is”, Murry adds. “I’ve had wonderful experiences with the 6 to 6 staff, they are experienced in handling all situations.” Clearly, the 6 to 6 program is an example of progressive child care in the City of San Diego.

     The program realizes the need for after-school care beyond the elementary years and provides support for children who are in between the little kid and young adult stage. Not only does this program give middle schoolers a safe place to go, 6 to 6 is designed to increase test scores in literacy and math. Academic curriculum is a part of the 6 to 6 daily routine, giving enrolled students 90 minutes to work on their homework. What Kinds of Programs Are Available? With so many parents of grade school kids in the work force, there is a high demand in every area. So why aren’t after-school care programs offered in every district or neighborhood? The two main factors keeping children out of after-school care are cost and lack of availability. Familiar organizations such as the Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCA and other operations such as day care centers are available for after-school care, but not in every neighborhood.
 
    In Santee, a new Boys & Girls Club is expected to open in 2006 providing after-school care and more to children ages 6 to 17. This new facility will provide more after-school care options to working parents in the East County. In South Bay, Safe Neighborhood and 21st Century are examples of such programs, providing economic assistance for families with qualifying incomes and few options for child care. The Border View YMCA operates three 21st Century programs and one Sage Neighborhood program. YMCA South Bay runs Safe Neighborhood programs in four different schools in Chula Vista. Both programs are comparable to 6 to 6, but funded differently. One thing is certain, it is best for kids to be in healthy, energetic and managed environments when school lets out.

     Parents know their children best, and can look for after-school care programs that fit their child’s personality, academic needs and schedule. For younger children, being picked up from school and taken back to child care may work best. Older children may prefer a place where they can shoot hoops or work on the computer. The America After 3 p.m. survey reinforces what parents have known all along; children need safe places, and they need them at all times.
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Samantha Gianulis is a freelance writer with a house full of her children, frequently other people’s children, not excluding her husband and their dog.
Staff writer Sharon Taylor-Huppert contributed to this story.
 © Samantha Gianulis 2005
Published in San Diego Family Magazine