Why Children and Youth Need

Camp Fire USA's After-School Programs

• Juvenile crime triples when the school bell rings at the end of the day (according to Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 1997 as well as the Children's Aid Society and many other sources). 

• Four year's of childcare: $18,000 to $19,000
  Four year's of college at UT-Dallas: $13,000 to $14,000
  (United Way of Metropolitan Dallas).

• 35% of school-age children are left on their own after school from the time they are 12 (according to National Training and Information Center). 

• Children are at a greater risk of being involved in crime, substance abuse, and teen pregnancy in the hours after school -- peaking between the hours of 3 - 4 p.m. (The Afterschool Alliance).

• On October 10, 2000, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids released its newest report, America's After-School Choice: The Prime Time for Juvenile Crime, or Youth Enrichment and Achievement, showing that the peak hours for juvenile crime are 3 to 6 p.m.

• While 40% of low-income eighth graders do not participate in after school activities, only 17% of their high-income peers do not participate in after school programs (Children's Aid Society, 2002).

• 79% of teens who participate in after school programs are "A" or "B" students. Teens who do not engage in after school activities are five times more likely to be "D" students than teens who do (YMCA of the USA. After School for America's Teens, March 2001).

• According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s)  2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health:

  • 11.6 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 are current illicit drug users.

  • 5.5 percent of youths who thought their parents would disapprove of their using marijuana had used the drug in the past month .

  • 30.2 percent of youths who thought their parents would only somewhat disapprove or neither approve nor disapprove of their trying marijuana, used the drug in the past month.

Learn More About:

• Overall Impact of After-school Programs on Children and Youth

• Why Children and Youth Need Camp Fire USA's After-School Programs

• Why Dallas Needs Quality After-School Programs