DATE: Thursday, March 13, 1997              TAG: 9703130651

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LORRAINE EATON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  192 lines

AFTER-SCHOOL HOURS ARE A RISKY TIME FOR YOUTHS EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES HELP BUT JOINING IS GETTING TOUGHER

Last week, Greg Scott rested.

Almost every afternoon since August, he'd been sweating it out on the football field or basketball court for the Southampton High Indians. Last week, his sports seasons ended. Now Greg's got some free time after school. How he decides to use it could have an enormous impact on his future.

Each weekday afternoon, Greg and nearly 90,000 other students stream out of Hampton Roads middle and high schools. For parents, particularly those who work, the dismissal bell should sound like an alarm.

A decade of research spotlights the hours of 3 to 6 p.m. as a time of high-risk for teens, and those who don't participate in extracurricular activities are far more likely to smoke, drink, use drugs, get pregnant, get arrested, get suspended or just plain drop out.

More students could be at risk as more local school districts adopt minimum academic requirements for participation in extracurricular activities and as funding diminishes for local non-profit organizations that provide after-school programs.

``A lot of delinquent behavior takes place between 3 and 6 (p.m.),'' Joy Dryfoos, author of two books on at-risk adolescents, said in an interview. ``A large bunch of kids goes home after school and gets in trouble . . . experimenting with drugs and getting pregnant right on the living room couch. And a lot are just going home and watching TV, doing nothing at all, like couch potatoes.''

The after-school hours also harbor positive opportunities for a majority of teen-agers. They work, play sports, volunteer or are involved in other challenging out-of-school activities. But about 40 percent of adolescents don't participate in any supervised extracurricular activity in a given week, according to psychologist and researcher Nicholas Zill, who has written several reports for the U.S. government. Half of those don't participate in extracurricular activities at all.

Local students intuitively know what researchers like Zill have been noodling for years.

``The hood rats are the ones who get in trouble,'' Gia Smith, 15, a freshman at Bayside High in Virginia Beach, said. She was describing kids who just hang out after school. ``The ones who are all up in school staying busy, they don't.''

The after-school danger zone is a phenomenon that has slowly evolved. In our old agrarian culture, children toiled on the farm after school. Then came industrialization, single-parent families, working moms, the disintegrating family unit - and more free time for youths.

Time alone after school is not the crucial risk factor, according to ``A Matter of Time,'' a report on out-of-school opportunities funded by the non-profit Carnegie Corporation of New York. Rather it's what young people do during free time, where they do it and with whom that leads to positive or negative consequences.

Communities have not kept pace with the changes in society, said Dryfoos, one of the report's authors. Aside from school-sponsored extracurricular activities, most after-school programs are directed toward younger children and don't hold the interest of teens. And many of those that do are underfunded.

Locally, no one knows that better than Elwood L. ``Coach'' Williams, executive director of the beleaguered Southside Boys and Girls Club in the high-crime Berkley section of Norfolk. Williams, who calls the center ``an oasis in the desert,'' announced this week that the club is in serious danger of closing due to a decrease in donations.

The center is open weekdays from 2:30 to 9 p.m. Each day, about 150 children ages 6 to 16 come directly from school to the center, where they play ball, do their homework and participate in all kinds of activities from family life classes to performing arts.

The center, which won three national awards last year, needs $80,000 to stay open until June. If grants or donations don't come through by April 15, Williams will have to cut staff.

``We could keep the doors open, but then we'd just be warehousing kids,'' Williams said. ``I don't want to do that.''

Williams said more money needs to be spent on prevention and less on punishment.

``We are running decent prevention programs and we have to beg to get money to operate,'' he said. ``I've never heard of a prison warden begging for money.''

The changes in society have also challenged schools that must educate students and still address the societal problems that students bring into the buildings.

Both Dryfoos and Zill are opposed to ``2.0 rules'' like those in three of five Hampton Roads cities that bar low-achieving students from participating in extracurricular activities. Even though Suffolk and Portsmouth have tutoring programs in place and Virginia Beach has vowed to establish one this fall before the rule starts taking effect, they said that's not enough.

Dryfoos said she understands the ``honest dilemma'' of school officials who want to raise achievement, but she points to a strong correlation between poor grades and teen pregnancy, drug use and delinquency. So why push a high-risk student out into a high-risk time of day?

Juvenile crime rises in after-school hours - in Virginia Beach more assaults and robberies are committed by juveniles between 2 and 6 p.m. on weekdays than at any other time.

``I can think of no justification for punishing people by not letting them participate in extracurricular activities,'' Dryfoos said. ``Rather than that, I would find a mentor to attach to that kid.''

America's teenagers have far more free time than their counterparts across the globe who endure longer school days and grind out more homework.

Japanese middle school students are in school for nearly 47 hours each week while United States middle schoolers spend 29 hours in the classroom, Zill said. Japanese middle school students spend 16 hours studying each week compared to their American counterparts who spend a scant 3.2 hours on homework.

In America, 42 percent of young people's waking hours are discretionary - not committed to school, homework or other chores. That equals about five hours each day.

Another part of the problem is that parents tend to become less involved in their children's lives at exactly the time when peers are becoming increasingly influential.

``At 15 and 16, there is a big increase in exposure to drugs, premarital sex and other potentially dangerous situations,'' Zill said.

``It's a time when kids are trying things out. Parents have to change the way that they exercise control, not by being harder but by keeping communication lines open,'' Zill said.

That's what Traci Spring of Chesapeake tries to do. Her son Cameron, ``a really good kid, thank heavens,'' goes to weight lifting and plays baseball three times a week after school. Sometimes the 15-year-old is home alone for an hour before his mom gets off work, but mother and son talk as soon as he gets there and he knows what kinds of chores he has to do.

Parents also need to monitor their kids' after-school behavior by checking with ``independent sources'' such as teachers and neighbors, Zill said. And they should know that the old adage, ``birds of a feather flock together,'' is well grounded in research when it comes to juvenile delinquency.

``It's a significant factor,'' Zill said. He advised that parents ``see what kinds of young people they (your kids) are spending time with and if possible steer them toward some wise choices.''

Greg Scott, the Southampton High School student, said that all the research rings true.

``Sports and other stuff can keep you from having a lot of free time in the streets,'' Greg said. ``It helps you keep your grades up if you have something to do that you are interested in.''

After school these days, he said he'll be playing some pickup ball and working to keep his grades up. The junior has already surpassed the minimum SAT eligibility requirement to be recruited as a college player. College recruiters are expressing interest. And he's not going to blow it by doing what he's seen too many other kids doing - slacking off after school, hanging out, getting in trouble. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/The Virginian-Pilot

Elwood L. ``Coach'' Williams talks to Charie Jackson at the

Southside Boys and Girls Club in Norfolk's Berkley section. The

center, winner of three national awards last year, provides

after-school programs for about 150 children ages 6 to 16. It may

soon have to close, however, due to a decrease in donations.

Graphics

BEHAVIOR, OUTCOMES

A comparison of risky behaviors and outcomes for teens who

regularly participate in extracurricular activities vs. those who

don't participate at all.

Risk category Participants Non-participants

Become teen parents 4% 10%

Get arrested 4% 9%

Smoke 19% 34%

Use drugs 20% 34%

Binge drinking 37% 45%

Have been suspended 4% 12%

Drop out of school 3% 18%

*Source: Adolescent Time Use, Risky Behavior and Outcomes: An

Analysis of National Data, Nicholas Zill.

TIPS FOR PARENTS

Suggestions for parents who have to leave children home alone

after school:

Structure your child's time alone so that he or she has something

interesting and meaningful to do: chores, homework, games,

activities.

Establish specific house rules. Make sure your child understands

exactly what he or she may or may not do in your absence.

Before you both leave home, talk over what your child will be

doing later when home alone.

Have your child call you as soon as he or she gets home.

Check back later to let your child know you are thinking about

him or her.

Leave notes for your child to find. Remind him or her about the

agreed on activities for the day.

Take time for your child in the evenings and on weekends. Talk to

each other. Participate in activities together.

*Source: The Planning Council in Norfolk

HOT LINE

Students who are home alone after school can call a locally

operated hot line called Phone Friend at 622-CARE. Phones are

answered by trained staff and volunteers. Volunteers can help with

homework, trouble with siblings, pets, minor accidents, peer

pressure or other problems. The hot line is funded by the Bertha

Snyder Children's Care Fund and run by The Planning Council. KEYWORDS: AFTER SCHOOL LATCHKEY CHILDREN

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