After-school Activity - Filling Time

Filling Time

Many of these activities take place in the afternoons of school days, thereby helping parents with childcare before they finish work. They can also occur in the evening and weekends.

The motivation for participating in an after-school activity is often that working parents wish their children to be supervised. Proponents often believe that if unsupervised, children may fall into criminal or undesirable activity such as drug-taking or teenage-sex.

In the United States, after school programs are increasing in number and popularity due to rising support from states and the federal government. Interest in utilizing after school programs for delinquent prevention increased dramatically after research found that juvenile arrest rates peak between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on school days. By keeping students involved in school related activities it lessens the chance for them to get involved in crimes, use drugs, tobacco or alcohol. After school programs give students role models and a safe place to learn and play. Some parents may place children in after school programs so that their children are provided with opportunities for enrichment or academic improvement. Other parents are predominantly concerned with ensuring that their children are in an affordable, safe, supervised environment after school