Extracurricular activities

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Permalink Reply by Brett on December 3, 2007 at 9:43pm

Well, I really think it will vary depending on the school which you attend. I go to a public charter, and we do not have that many students involved in the after school activities because you can do the activities during school, (because of how our school works.) So it’s kinda hard to distinguish what students are in after school activities (if it was a traditional school,) because of how we function. If I had to guess, I would say above 50% for sure. If you look at economically how well off your student body is, and the school funding for these programs it can really effect the turn out for the programs.

I do think income and your home life has a lot to do with it. If you have a family where your mom works almost all day more than one job, and you have to look after your brothers and sisters (for example,) the chances of getting those opportunities decreases because of your responsibilities. Your family influences so much about your education. Why do you think the white middle class America on average performs the best out of any statistical group? It is because they tend to be the most educated and motivated with a stable support situation at home with less distractions and responsibilities to take away from your education. If I want to do an after school class, and it means my mom has to pick me up later than usual, I pretty much can. For students who have responsibilities at home or parents can not pick them up will most likely discourage them from participating and make it more difficult to do so.

If I was going to tell you the most likely reason that one of my friends who loved basketball would not try and join the team (for after school,) I would bet on that being one of the main contributors to why, (along with price.) If you look at who has the resources to support their kids in extra activities (considering initial cost, transportation, supplies, time etc,) your family and home life will probably distinguish if you can participate or not.

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Permalink Reply by Annie W on December 4, 2007 at 6:25pm

There are many students at my school who participate in some type of after-school activity or sport. However, as Brett was saying, I think finances do have a lot to do with participation...I think it's more than just repsonsibilites with family, it's the expectations and costs of being a part of an after school program.

I know for sports at my school (possibly district-wide?) there is a fee of $60-$90, plus a physical (which costs money, unless you go to the school clinic) and the price of uniforms and team apparel is through the roof! We paid $30 for tennis skirts alone this year, and opted to tie-dye our own shirts instead of buying the uniform one. (which still ended up costing money) I think most times, you can be accommodated as far as uniforms go if you can't afford it, but I'm not sure about the registration fee.

Even for clubs and other activities. I was in debate this year and you're expected to have nice clothes to wear to tournaments, and bring money for lunch. I'm sure it's like this for other clubs as well. If you can't afford to buy new nice clothing, you can wear what you have...but you will be frowned upon by the people from other schools who are wearing tuxes at the tournament. It's definitely intimidating and discouraging to not have money when you're a part of these things.

I know at my school, there are lots of kids...from well-off families. All of my friends sign up for clubs without a second thought. Oh, here's something that just creeps me out about this money-extracurriculars-thing:

My sister is in choir at school, and they decided to take a trip "just for fun" with the dance classes to New York City for a weekend in April. The teacher passed out the form and guess how much it costs...$800!! Which doesn't even cover food or shopping, which they'll be doing a lot of. I guess they were going to a workshop or something there, but pretty much, it's just for fun. Now, my parents said, "no way" instantly and asked if the teacher was sheepish when she was passing out the form. My sister said no, not at all. And my sister is one of the three kids in her class that isn't going. She feels really bad she can't go, even though she knows we can't afford it.

Um, I think this is utterly ridiculous...how can you expect kids, in a public school, to pay $800 for a trip that's not even educational? That's what I hate about my school...it's just sort of assumed that you can pay for this kind of stuff, and if you can't, you're weird.

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Permalink Reply by Tim McDonald on December 5, 2007 at 10:29am

This is very interesting—I experienced the same type of things in school, but to a much more modest degree. Our point guard had to stop playing basketball after JV because he had to make money for his family. Beyond this, for the most part, the school covered all costs associated with uniforms and travel. My orchestra went on a week long trip to New York, but we fund raised for 12 months ahead of time. What you describe sounds quite different.

With budgets strained, fees tend to go up—especially for extracurriculars. I know some districts in Wisconsin (maybe MN?) are talking about letting clubs pick up sports, no longer running them through the schools. It has occurred here and there at the middle school level.

Thanks for the thoughts. To follow up: can you think of examples where you KNOW someone did not join a sport or club because of money (maybe they said so, or maybe you could sense it), or is it less obvious? Is it more subtle?

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Permalink Reply by Tim McDonald on December 5, 2007 at 10:39am

Good point about transportation; so it is common for students to be taking public transportation home at five or six o'clock? That would get tough.

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Permalink Reply by Victoria Ford on December 10, 2007 at 2:11pm

Hey, this is a really great conversation. I'm glad you're on here, Tim!

I remember that there used to be a special "after-school" bus that would take students home after extra-curriculars. (Not all of them, of course - if you had to stay later than the bus, or if you had to practice on the weekends, you were out of luck). It seems as thought that might be a big help.

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Permalink Reply by Salma Hussein on December 12, 2007 at 10:20am

It's a little of everything to be honest. For most students, the thought of staying in school a minute longer than they have to just doesn't cut it. Also,I've noticed this need among young teens to go out and get a job. Everybody wants to be independent and seen wearing the latest trends. I feel as though after school programs are failing young inner city kids to a great extend. The reason i say this is because i feel as though there would be a lot of students who would stay after school if there was a way for these students to get back home. Most students can't afford to find money to get home twice a week. Not only is transportation a problem but we have to keep in mind that different students have different needs. As far as i know, your family doesn't have a role in whether or not you say for after school. I come from a family where family responsibilities comes first before anything else, and for a lot of somali youth that happens to be the case. Most parents feel as though after school is the time most youth get into trouble rather than engaging in useful activities, youth get involved with street folks and pick up bad habits that eventually end up ruining the young person. Although that may not be the case for most young people, but i do buy into that a little. A lot of young people say they are at after school programs when in truth they are getting into trouble, and they end up ruining it for their peers. It really depends on the community, and their culture.

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Permalink Reply by Victoria Ford on December 13, 2007 at 11:16am

A few months ago I was talking with some of the students who are involved with the City of Saint Paul's Second Shift Youth Commission, and one of the things they said was that after being in classes all day they wanted to MOVE. The meeting was about college access programs, and they advised us that the programs should incorporate physical activity of some sort (even just moving around within a classroom instead of being at one desk).w

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Permalink Reply by Ashley on December 13, 2007 at 2:46pm

Well I know that I don't do any after school activities. And I'm not quite sure about the income thing. I just know that sometimes, you can't do stuff cause its to much.

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Permalink Reply by Kim FB on December 13, 2007 at 3:33pm

On Frontline Tuesday night the topic was adolescent brains. The program explained (among other things) that teens' brains biologically surge in the evening/night...then they showed a number of teens explaining that they just can't fall asleep until midnight/1 AM. They contrasted this with early school start times. Teens also need sleep, but with their biological timing of the energy surge, the early school hours don't allow enough.

What to do? Well, Mpls Public Schools (the program said) experimented with a later start time. One hour later. Teens reported that they were far more engaged in school that year. Middle school, however, had to start two hours later (because they share busses with high school). This interfered with after school activities. Students needed to get home for family dinner and family responsibilities, so after school activities were not as much a possibility.

I think this goes right along with all of what the students are reporting here.

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Permalink Reply by Tim McDonald on December 16, 2007 at 8:41pm

My greatest challenge/inhibitor in high school was lack of sleep. Thanks for the good input--

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Permalink Reply by Joshua McDaniel on September 22, 2008 at 3:23pm

over 1,000

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