There is a tremendous need for after-school care for children and youth in the Caribbean. Far too many families are unable to find safe, quality programs for their children, and are forced to leave their children unsupervised. A high amount of all youth are (left) alone each day in the hours after school. For some of these latch-key kids, the hours after school may be dangerous; between the hours of 2 and 8 p.m., children and youth are the most likely to use alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs, and more likely to experiment with sex. All of these risks greatly increase for low-income children in urban communities.
For many other children and youth, the afternoon hours are simply wasted; time spent watching television or doing nothing could be used instead to participate in positive activities or to connect with responsible adults. Research indicates that children who attend high quality after-school programs have better peer relations, emotional adjustment, conflict resolution skills, grades, and behavior in school than children who are not in after-school programs. Students who spend one to four hours per week in extracurricular activities are 49% less likely to use drugs and 37% less likely to become teen parents than students who do not participate.
Despite a perception of sports and recreation programs as expendable or even frivolous, sports programs provide an important mechanism to reach large numbers of children and youth and engage them in healthy and positive activities during non-school hours. More children and youth chose to take part in sports programs than in any other after-school activity. Sport programs have the potential to promote physical health as well as healthy childhood and youth development.
Horse programs also promote healthy development for handicap children . Examples abound of successful sports programs that build character, responsibility and leadership for all children in the world!
No comments:
Post a Comment