After-School Statistics
Below are some of the many reasons why we believe this program is necessary.
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On average, children in the U.S. spend more than 7.5 hours each day using entertainment media. And because they spend so much of that time "media multitasking" (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes worth of media content into those 7½ hours.
(Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010)
61.5 percent of children ages 9-13 do not participate in any organized physical activity outside of school hours, and 22.6 percent do not engage in any type of physical activity during free time.
(National Centers for Disease Control, 2003)
In several studies spanning more than a decade, researcher Deborah Vandell and colleagues have shown that a host of positive benefits result from elementary-age children's participation in after-school programs, including better grades, work habits, emotional adjustment and peer relations. Other studies have reported similar benefits, including improvements in students' social skills, the ability to maintain self-control and avoid conflicts and to make constructive choices about their personal behavior. Parents and teachers also report that students are more excited about school and more confident, especially about their academic ability.