Self-Care Prevention Program IrvineDemographics According to the city of Irvine official website, Irvine is a fairly new city in Southern California. It was established in December 1971, and today has a population of 212,541. About half the population is White (49.7%), and more than 1/3 of the population is Asian (36.2%). Irvine’s Hispanic population is 9%, the African-American population is 1.7% and about 3% is considered “Other.” A very high percentage of Irvine’s population are high school graduates (96.3%), and almost 2/3 of the population are college graduates (64.1%). This is probably due to those attending Irvine’s various colleges who have yet to receive their college degree, but are working towards it. Irvine is a fairly affluent area where the median family income is $109,138 and the median house value is $562,000. For six consecutive years, Irvine has ranked #1 on FBI list of Safest Big City in America (2004-2009). This means that for cities with populations over 100,000, Irvine has ranked number one as far as the lowest percentage of Part 1 violent crimes, (homicide, and non-negligent manslaughter, robbery, forcible rape, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson). Background With Irvine being an affluent area, parents of many households work outside the home. Their children called “latch-key” children usually come home to an empty house, and spend one to three hours alone before their parents come home from work. The “latch-key” nickname started in the 1940s during World War II when the men were away at war, and women started working. With both parents away, school kids went home to empty houses. A latchkey kid wore a house key around his or her neck and this key opened the front door or latch. Currently, the term self care is used to refer to elementary and middle school children who are without adult supervision during after-school hours whether they are at home, at friends' houses, or in public places. Self-Care Children For both low- and higher-income families, self-care is used often as a primary child care arrangement among 10- to 12-year-old children. Low-income children are significantly less likely to use self-care as the primary child care arrangement than higher-income children (19%, compared with 27%). The reason for this is probably related to safety considerations. Typically, those families with higher incomes usually live in suburban neighborhoods that the parents rate as being safe. Indeed, urban children are in self care less often than suburban and rural children. After the FBI has ranked Irvine #1 Safest Big City six years in a row, it’s understandable that parents are more comfortable leaving their child home alone in Irvine. Cultural Differences in Self-Care Children Among younger school-age children, African-American children are more likely to use before- and after-school programs while the mother is working than Hispanic children (27%, compared with 16%). Among 10- to 12-year-olds, Caucasian children are twice as likely as Hispanic children, and almost three times as likely as African-American children, to use self-care as the primary form of care (30% for Caucasians, compared with 15% for Hispanics and 11% for African Americans). Behavior Concerns As many as 15 million young people are unsupervised after school before parents return from work. After school is peak time for juvenile crime, experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and sex. Teens who do not participate in after school programs are nearly three times more likely engage in these behaviors. Invest in Kids (a bipartisan anti-crime organization) found that violent juvenile crime is most likely to occur between 3pm-6pm and youths are more likely to engage in risky behaviors (smoke, drink, do drugs) during this time. Law enforcement officials refer to this time between 3-6pm as “danger zone.” Parents admit to regularly leaving more than 4 million middle school kids under 13 years old to care for themselves a few hours each week. Consequences According to the After School All Stars website, lack of adult supervision has been linked to: increased likelihood of accidents or injuries, lower social competence, lower GPAs, lower achievement on test scores, greater likelihood of participation in delinquent or other high risk activities. Teens who are unsupervised during after school hours are also 37% more likely to become teen parents. Benefits of After School Programs Also according to After School All Stars, after school programs has been proven to lower juvenile crime rates and generally improve neighborhoods, provides academic support, encourages students to get involved in their neighborhoods, provides young people with the influence of caring adults and positive role models. Kids who participate in after-school programs earn higher grades, have improved attendance, behave better in school, are more apt to graduate, and it keeps kids safe. Kids in after-school program show an increased interest in school, express greater hope for the future, and alleviate childcare worries for working parents. Middle School Years For some students, middle school years (ages 11-14) are sometimes a difficult transition from child to teenager/young adult. During this time, the pre-teen feels too old to need a babysitter and too old for day-care, however, they are not old enough for a part-time job after school, and do not have access to school sponsored sports in middle school like is in high school. Families believe it is less expensive for their teen to stay home than pay for child-care. There is an increased responsibility placed on the student, but some may not be mature enough to handle it Middle School Self-Care Prevention Program This program is modeled after San Diego’s “6 to 6” Program, which offers an extended school day with various organized activities for students. This Middle School Self-Care Prevention program will take place on IUSD middle school campuses and consists of two subprograms: the Morning Program (7am-8:25am) and the After School Program (3pm-6pm). Morning Program. The morning program starts at 7am and ends when school begins. During this time, teachers supervise different group activities. Students have the option in participating in: Homework Help, Breakfast Club, and Sports. In Homework Help, peer tutors or adults help students receive help on homework that they didn’t understand the night before. In Breakfast Club, students take turns bringing breakfast items or snacks for the club. They eat breakfast while engaging in social activities, such as games. In Sports, students will play organized sports, such as baseball, football, basketball, softball, volleyball, or tennis on the blacktop. After-School Program. The After-School Program starts at 3pm and ends at 6pm. During this time, students will participate in supervised activities: Homework Help, Recreation/Sports, Arts/Games/Snacks, and Movie with popcorn. Homework Help is a mandatory 75 minute class that has two 10-minute breaks. During this time, peer tutors and adults help students with their homework. After Homework Help, students have three options to spend the rest of the time. Option one is Recreation/Sports on the blacktop where students will play organized sports as they do in the morning program. Option two is Arts, Games, Snacks held in a designated classroom where students will socialize while playing games, doing arts and crafts or eating their snacks. Option three is Movie and popcorn in the Multi-Purpose Room where students will watch an age appropriate movie that is projected on the main screen while eating popcorn and relaxing after a long day at school. Effects of Prevention Program on Self-Esteem and Family By having their children in this program, working parents are less worried knowing their child is safe at school participating in activities that promote academics and socialization. At the same time, students’ self-esteem increase because they are receiving positive attention from adults and peers, as well as receiving help on homework which benefits their academics. Helping Parents Deal with Conflict Aside from helping children academically and socially and providing a safe place for children to go after school, this program will also offer workshops to parents who want to use positive strategies in order to communicate effectively with their teenager and how to assist them academically. A different workshop is held every month, and topics include: How To Effectively Communicate With Your Teenager, Refresher course on Middle School Science, Refresher course on Middle School Mathematics, and Perspective into Teen Life: Hardships Middle Schoolers Are Facing Today. References After School All Stars. 2011. Retrieved from. http://www.afterschoolallstars.org/site/pp.asp?c=enJJKMNpFmG&b=854685 Capizzano, J., Tout, K., Adams, G., (2000). Child Care Patterns of School-Age Children with Employed Mothers. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/PDF/occa41.pdf City of Irvine http://www.cityofirvine.org/about/demographics.asp San Diego After School Regional Consortium. San Diego After School. Retrieved from http://www.thechildrensinitiative.org/pdfs/aslsnppbrochure.pdf Shumow, L., (2006-2011). Latchkey Children. Retrieve from http://www.education.com/reference/article/latchkey-children/
Irvine Demographics
According to the city of Irvine official website, Irvine is a fairly new city in Southern California. It was established in December 1971, and today has a population of 212,541. About half the population is White (49.7%), and more than 1/3 of the population is Asian (36.2%). Irvine’s Hispanic population is 9%, the African-American population is 1.7% and about 3% is considered “Other.” A very high percentage of Irvine’s population are high school graduates (96.3%), and almost 2/3 of the population are college graduates (64.1%). This is probably due to those attending Irvine’s various colleges who have yet to receive their college degree, but are working towards it. Irvine is a fairly affluent area where the median family income is $109,138 and the median house value is $562,000. For six consecutive years, Irvine has ranked #1 on FBI list of Safest Big City in America (2004-2009). This means that for cities with populations over 100,000, Irvine has ranked number one as far as the lowest percentage of Part 1 violent crimes, (homicide, and non-negligent manslaughter, robbery, forcible rape, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson).
Background
With Irvine being an affluent area, parents of many households work outside the home. Their children called “latch-key” children usually come home to an empty house, and spend one to three hours alone before their parents come home from work. The “latch-key” nickname started in the 1940s during World War II when the men were away at war, and women started working. With both parents away, school kids went home to empty houses. A latchkey kid wore a house key around his or her neck and this key opened the front door or latch. Currently, the term self care is used to refer to elementary and middle school children who are without adult supervision during after-school hours whether they are at home, at friends' houses, or in public places.
Self-Care Children
For both low- and higher-income families, self-care is used often as a primary child care arrangement among 10- to 12-year-old children. Low-income children are significantly less likely to use self-care as the primary child care arrangement than higher-income children (19%, compared with 27%). The reason for this is probably related to safety considerations. Typically, those families with higher incomes usually live in suburban neighborhoods that the parents rate as being safe. Indeed, urban children are in self care less often than suburban and rural children. After the FBI has ranked Irvine #1 Safest Big City six years in a row, it’s understandable that parents are more comfortable leaving their child home alone in Irvine.
Cultural Differences in Self-Care Children
Among younger school-age children, African-American children are more likely to use before- and after-school programs while the mother is working than Hispanic children (27%, compared with 16%). Among 10- to 12-year-olds, Caucasian children are twice as likely as Hispanic children, and almost three times as likely as African-American children, to use self-care as the primary form of care (30% for Caucasians, compared with 15% for Hispanics and 11% for African Americans).
Behavior Concerns
As many as 15 million young people are unsupervised after school before parents return from work. After school is peak time for juvenile crime, experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and sex. Teens who do not participate in after school programs are nearly three times more likely engage in these behaviors. Invest in Kids (a bipartisan anti-crime organization) found that violent juvenile crime is most likely to occur between 3pm-6pm and youths are more likely to engage in risky behaviors (smoke, drink, do drugs) during this time. Law enforcement officials refer to this time between 3-6pm as “danger zone.” Parents admit to regularly leaving more than 4 million middle school kids under 13 years old to care for themselves a few hours each week.
Consequences
According to the After School All Stars website, lack of adult supervision has been linked to: increased likelihood of accidents or injuries, lower social competence, lower GPAs, lower achievement on test scores, greater likelihood of participation in delinquent or other high risk activities. Teens who are unsupervised during after school hours are also 37% more likely to become teen parents.
Benefits of After School Programs
Also according to After School All Stars, after school programs has been proven to lower juvenile crime rates and generally improve neighborhoods, provides academic support, encourages students to get involved in their neighborhoods, provides young people with the influence of caring adults and positive role models. Kids who participate in after-school programs earn higher grades, have improved attendance, behave better in school, are more apt to graduate, and it keeps kids safe. Kids in after-school program show an increased interest in school, express greater hope for the future, and alleviate childcare worries for working parents.
Middle School Years
For some students, middle school years (ages 11-14) are sometimes a difficult transition from child to teenager/young adult. During this time, the pre-teen feels too old to need a babysitter and too old for day-care, however, they are not old enough for a part-time job after school, and do not have access to school sponsored sports in middle school like is in high school. Families believe it is less expensive for their teen to stay home than pay for child-care. There is an increased responsibility placed on the student, but some may not be mature enough to handle it
Middle School Self-Care Prevention Program
This program is modeled after San Diego’s “6 to 6” Program, which offers an extended school day with various organized activities for students. This Middle School Self-Care Prevention program will take place on IUSD middle school campuses and consists of two subprograms: the Morning Program (7am-8:25am) and the After School Program (3pm-6pm).
Morning Program. The morning program starts at 7am and ends when school begins. During this time, teachers supervise different group activities. Students have the option in participating in: Homework Help, Breakfast Club, and Sports. In Homework Help, peer tutors or adults help students receive help on homework that they didn’t understand the night before. In Breakfast Club, students take turns bringing breakfast items or snacks for the club. They eat breakfast while engaging in social activities, such as games. In Sports, students will play organized sports, such as baseball, football, basketball, softball, volleyball, or tennis on the blacktop.
After-School Program. The After-School Program starts at 3pm and ends at 6pm. During this time, students will participate in supervised activities: Homework Help, Recreation/Sports, Arts/Games/Snacks, and Movie with popcorn. Homework Help is a mandatory 75 minute class that has two 10-minute breaks. During this time, peer tutors and adults help students with their homework. After Homework Help, students have three options to spend the rest of the time. Option one is Recreation/Sports on the blacktop where students will play organized sports as they do in the morning program. Option two is Arts, Games, Snacks held in a designated classroom where students will socialize while playing games, doing arts and crafts or eating their snacks. Option three is Movie and popcorn in the Multi-Purpose Room where students will watch an age appropriate movie that is projected on the main screen while eating popcorn and relaxing after a long day at school.
Effects of Prevention Program on Self-Esteem and Family
By having their children in this program, working parents are less worried knowing their child is safe at school participating in activities that promote academics and socialization. At the same time, students’ self-esteem increase because they are receiving positive attention from adults and peers, as well as receiving help on homework which benefits their academics.
Helping Parents Deal with Conflict
Aside from helping children academically and socially and providing a safe place for children to go after school, this program will also offer workshops to parents who want to use positive strategies in order to communicate effectively with their teenager and how to assist them academically. A different workshop is held every month, and topics include: How To Effectively Communicate With Your Teenager, Refresher course on Middle School Science, Refresher course on Middle School Mathematics, and Perspective into Teen Life: Hardships Middle Schoolers Are Facing Today.
References
After School All Stars. 2011. Retrieved from.
http://www.afterschoolallstars.org/site/pp.asp?c=enJJKMNpFmG&b=854685
Capizzano, J., Tout, K., Adams, G., (2000). Child Care Patterns of School-Age Children
with Employed Mothers. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/PDF/occa41.pdf
City of Irvine http://www.cityofirvine.org/about/demographics.asp
San Diego After School Regional Consortium. San Diego After School. Retrieved from
http://www.thechildrensinitiative.org/pdfs/aslsnppbrochure.pdf
Shumow, L., (2006-2011). Latchkey Children. Retrieve from
http://www.education.com/reference/article/latchkey-children/
2-10
Possible volunteers-
2-17
1- Lara
2- Kelly
3- Denise
2-24
1- Lauryn
2- Mona
3- Marla
3-3
1- Alex
2- Venus
3- Lana
3-10
1- Natalie
2- Debbi
3- Sarah
Scoring Rubric for Prevention Program Presentations: 15 points possible
3 points
2 points
1 point
0 points