Social Bonds & Health Through Sports & Enriching After-School Activities
We should consider extending school hours with sports, chess, music, science, art, cartoon drawing, cooking, and movie clubs for all students. Having this type of "fun" extended school hours replace daycare services would have that money reinvested in our young children's health and education. �Children�s ability to learn in the classroom is affected by many factors, ranging from the amount of time their parents spend with them to whether they are included in extracurricular arts and sports programs, to the environment in the schools they attend�� (http://www.sshrc.ca/web/whatsnew/press/releases/2003/ine_fredericton_e.asp 02/12/03)
After school activity programs may add to a child's feeling of belonging or enjoyment that may further support the child's learning and continued motivation to attend school. We must consider adding more sports and activities to complement academic learning, and entice students to attend. Consider the long-term costs and consequences of maintaining the status quo: students who dropout may continue long-term "maladaptive" behaviors; due to low self-esteem, depression, and lack of education and certifications - thereby increasing possibility of long-term family or partner violence, and state dependency... (e.g. 540,000 U.S. drop-outs expected this year...) In addition, for those who do remain in school; boredom and lack of challenge in school, and hours of being alone after school � can be precursors to drinking, teen violence, gangs, drugs, and sex...
�Though some after-school programs should be more specialized than others, and children of different ages need different kinds of programs, every community needs a variety of programming. Programs won�t produce the benefits we describe if they don�t hold youngsters� interest. They can�t begin to produce benefits unless they are sufficiently attractive so that families and young people choose to participate. In general, young people should have out-of-school options that give them opportunities for active play, academic enrichment to develop both basic skills and higher-level thinking, exposure to arts, drama and music, and, especially for youngsters who are in middle school or high school, opportunities to begin serving their communities. For high school students, after-school options specifically aimed at career development and job skills training should also be available. (63)� (http://www.fightcrime.org/reports/as2000.pdf)
In addition, as mentionned in the previous section titled Unsupervised Children: "four million 13 and 14 year olds are home alone or hanging out unsupervised" (http://www.fightcrime.org/reports/as2000.pdf) in the U.S. Should we be worrying about what trouble these teenagers can be getting into?
Exercise Increases Self-Esteem & Health
�Exercise may improve self-esteem, especially for at risk children and young people.� (http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/doc-pdf/exself.pdf) ��teaching African-American girls how to boost their self-esteem can help them better control their sex lives.� (Reuters Health, August 12, 2004 , http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_19483.html)
U.S. researchers have �found that 84 percent of parents they surveyed did not think their teenager was sexually active - despite a recent government study showing that nearly half of 9th through 12th graders aged 14 to 18 have had sex.� (Reuters Health, August 12, 2004 , http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_19483.html) In Canada, �half of Canadian teens will have intercourse before age 17 and half will have it after age 17. About 5% of boys and 1% of girls will have had intercourse by their 12th birthday. By the age of 14, about 30% of males and 20% of females will have had sexual intercourse at least once.� (http://www.sexualityandyou.ca/eng/parents/SCD/latechildhood.cfm)
�Nova Scotia has high rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STIs), teenage pregnancies, low birth weights, and HIV/AIDS cases. A 2002 Nova Scotia study shows that 8 per cent of grade 7 students had already engaged in sexual intercourse. This increased to 21 per cent in grade 9; 34 per cent in grade 11; and 58 per cent in grade 12. Many who were sexually active did not use protection, or were under the influence of alcohol or drugs.� (http://www.gov.ns.ca/ohp/healthySexuality.html)
�A number of [other] factors � peer pressure, curiosity and loneliness, to name a few � steer teenagers into early sexual activity.� (http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=CC00032)
Dopamine Levels - Aggression & Depression
It has also been said that dopamine levels rise with exercise � can this help relax teenagers need for sex, aggression, or their symptoms of ADHD, just to mention a few? ��overeating stimulates dopamine in the part of the brain associated with habit formation� (http://www.ctv.ca/special/food/obesity_brain020704.html) Perhaps we can replace the need for this stimulation with exercise? � �In animal studies ... exercise has been found to increase dopamine levels and to raise the number of dopamine receptors," said study co-author Dr. Nora Volkow, a psychiatrist at Brookhaven.� (http://www.ctv.ca/special/food/obesity_brain020704.html) "�envigorating activity actually causes biochemical changes in the brain. Only a few minutes of exercise has been shown to increase the brain's emission of alpha waves - the brain waves associated with a relaxed meditation-like state of mind. Researchers have also demonstrated that exercise decreases depression by altering the levels of certain neurotransmitters (norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin) in the brain (Bruno Balke, A User's Guide to Exercise Testing and Prescription. Master Press, 1992). These euphoria-producing neurotransmitters are released for a "natural high" and a general sense of well-being." (http://www.yorku.ca/wellness/softexercise.htm)
Scientists have recently come to understand a great deal about the role that stress plays in the two most common classes of psychiatric disorders: anxiety and major depression, each of which affects close to 20 million Americans annually, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. And much investigation focuses on developing the next generation of relevant pharmaceuticals, on finding improved versions of Prozac, Wellbutrin, Valium and Librium that would work faster, longer or with fewer side effects. (Taming Stress, Scientific American, http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=00083A00-318C-1F30-9AD380A84189F2D7, August 10, 2003)
"Since 1986, when Prozac went on the market, 11 million people have used it to cope with a host of minor personality disorders such as lack of self-esteem and shyness. Unlike physical activity which produces natural levels of such antidepressants as serotonin, these "cosmetic psycho-pharmacological" drugs trick your brain into enhancing or inhibiting certain chemical messengers. Medical researchers point out that unlike physical activity which works naturally on the body, these new medications may produce too much or too little of a certain neurotransmitter and this could lead to a serious and chronic personality disorder." (http://www.yorku.ca/wellness/softexercise.htm)
Incorporating a 20 minute daily morning exercise program before morning class, would go a long way towards promoting long-term health. In the United States �more state legislatures are targeting junk food in public schools to remedy an epidemic of childhood obesity, but few are strengthening flabby physical education programs. Phys ed classes are being squeezed out even as the number of obese children has tripled to an estimated 15 percent - or about 8 million children - over the past three decades, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control.� (http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/2039/) �Children who are overweight are at increased risk for developing obesity. 75% of obese children remain obese as adults. [�] Physically, obese children and adolescents have a two-fold increased risk for cardiovascular disease and hypertension as well as a three-fold increase for diabetes and sleep apnea.� (http://www.aboutourkids.org/aboutour/publications/june_2004.pdf)
�TV-Turnoff Week 2005 dates are set! TV-Turnoff Week 2005, the 11th annual celebration, will take place April 25 - May 1, 2005. � (http://www.tvturnoff.org/index.htm) �The organization encourages children and adults to watch much less television in order to promote healthier lives and communities. Since 1995, more than 24 million people have participated in the organization�s TV-Turnoff Week. Vespe says that the television and teen promiscuity study �re-enforces what we already know, that television influences behaviour. You just have to ask business why it continues to spend billions every year on television advertising�. The Boston Globe reported on August 24 there is a $58 billion annual US television advertising market. Vespe stressed TV advertising obviously produces results otherwise those billions would not continue to be spent every year. He added that the teen shows with sexual content �can be seen as advertisements for a lifestyle. The producers are making a certain lifestyle attractive�. However, the TV-Turnoff director said, �it is the amount of immersion in TV that ultimately influences how profoundly those messages affect one.��� (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/sep/040908a.html)
�A Child�s Day: 2000 (Selected Indicators of Child Well-Being)� identified three types of television rules: type of program watched, time of day when television is allowed, and total number of hours watched. Overall, more than 90 percent of children under age 11 had at least one television rule. The report also makes a clear and compelling connection between controlling television and boosting family reading time. For children between ages three and five, more than half (52.3 percent) of those with all three TV rules are read to seven or more times weekly, versus just under 31 percent of children who have no television rules.� (http://www.tvturnoff.org/08-03censuspr.htm)
�Teens who view television programs containing a lot of sexual content are twice as likely to become involved sexually at a younger age than teens who watched less�� (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/sep/04090705.html) �Only 5 to 25 percent of the average child�s television viewing is of programs specifically produced for children. [�] By the time a child graduates from elementary school, the average child has seen over one hundred thousand acts of violence on television.� (Parenting The Strong-Willed Child, Rex Forehand & Nicholas Long, 2002, p.37) �Number of TV commercials viewed by American children a year: 20,000� Number of ads aired for �junk food� during four hours of Saturday morning cartoons: 202� � (TV-Turnoff Network, A National Nonprofit Organization http://www.tvturnoff.org/images/facts&figs/factsheets/Facts%20and%20Figures.pdf)
Conclusion
Yes, parents can do it on their own - if they are not working. Remember also that millions of children are home alone everyday, this also means that there are many who cannot afford to send their children to quality after-school programs. In addition, students who are involved in activities are overscheduled (rushing to practice, rushing home for supper, rushing back out...), it could help them immensely if courses/programs/activities were offered at school. In addition, there could be an increased perception that school could also become a 'fun place'. I would question how this could affect the potential drop-out. Perhaps this could further motivate students to attend school regularly.
Furthermore, quality after-school programs are also necessary to help us reduce our crime rates. Read: After School Programs - cost benefit in reducing crime
"For each high-risk youth prevented from adopting a life of crime, experts estimate the country saves between $1.7 and $2.3 million." (http://www.fightcrime.org/reports/as2000.pdf)
Our schools are obviously there, further rent does not need to be paid, perhaps we can find companies (activity centers) willing to forgo their overhead, offering quality activities on school grounds for affordable prices. In otherwords, the music school exists on school grounds. No overhead for the music school, reduced prices for our students, access to friends daily, in a safe supervised environment.
