Busy
days just right for today's school kids
Tuesday, November 16, 2004 • BY BEN FELLER
• Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- If the fast pace of life makes you yearn
for the lazy days of childhood, don't expect much sympathy
from the kids.
About 80 percent of middle and high school students take
part in organized activities after school and on weekends,
and most of these young people have something scheduled
nearly every day, a new study finds.
That's just fine by them. Three out of four students say
their day-to-day schedule during the school year is just
about right, not too hectic.
What's more, children don't mind a good nudge into that
piano class or soccer lesson, according to the study
released yesterday by Public Agenda, a nonpartisan opinion
research group.
Almost nine in 10 students agree they need to be pushed
by parents into things that are good for them, even if they
might complain.
The message to parents is "Most kids are thriving from
out-of-school activities, and it's really worth your time --
and maybe a little nagging -- to get kids involved," said
Ruth Wooden, president of Public Agenda.
Sports are the most popular activities, followed by
anything in the category of art, music or dance, and then
academics, the study found.
Cerenity Miller's after-school routine includes four
days a week at Adventure Central, a 4-H program in Dayton,
Ohio. The 12-year-old's time is packed with research in the
computer lab, kickball and arts and crafts.
Otherwise, Cerenity said she could enroll in aftercare
at her school, "but that wouldn't be as much fun. I wouldn't
really have any opportunities except to sit there and do my
homework and wait for my dad to pick me up."
Congress spends $1billion on after-school programs, and
an ongoing study by the Bush administration has questioned
whether students are getting academic benefits. But many
parents have other objectives in mind.
Beyond safety, what parents want is for children to
develop interests and hobbies and stay out of trouble, the
study found.
"Our schedules are not like they used to be," said Glenn
Miller, Cerenity's father, who drives a bus for her school
system. With two parents often working, he said,
after-school has become as much a part of the traditional
routine as families meeting up at day's end for dinner.
Poor and minority parents are much more likely to want
an academic focus in their kids' activities, the study
found. Yet they have many more problems finding programs
that are affordable, available and high quality.
The study provides stark evidence of the "two kinds of
American families," those with opportunities and those
without them, said Christine DeVita, president of the
Wallace Foundation, which commissioned the work.
© 2004 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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