I've spent a lot of time volunteering this semester at the Boys and Girls Club of Monroe County. I work in the art room, and, since I'm not the most artistic person, I spend most of my time just talking with the kids and learning about their lives. While the Boys and Girls Club offers afterschool programs to children of all different economic backgrounds and lifestyles, I've noticed that a majority of the children I've met seem to be of lower socio-economical status. Furthermore, a lot of these children come from homes where both of their parents work, which is a reason why they are attending the afterschool programs at the Boys and Girls Club. These observations have led me to the issue I want to investigate; how do afterschool programs shape the emotional/social development of low-income youth who are children of working parents?
Joan Jacobs Brumberg, in her chapter on "Girl Advocacy Again" from the book The Body Project, offers her perspective youth development in modern society based primarily on interviews with youth. While her youth are not defined by their socio-economic status, her ideas about girls' sexual development can be useful as a broad starting point for examining the need for guidance in youth development. Brumberg writes: "Too often popular culture and peer groups, rather than parents or other responsible adults, call the cadence in contemporary teenage life. [...] Many [young girls] remain emotionally immature, and that makes it all the more difficult to withstand the sexually brutal and commercially rapacious society in which they grow up" (197). This brings to light another issue. How do programs like the Boys and Girls Club guide positive development in light of an era that is flooded with media messages and misinformed peer groups?
Brumberg also discusses the "postmodern style of family nurturance" (199). She believes that today's "hurried children" are those of "harried parents" and are expected to be fully developed by the time they are adolescents, leading to a loss of limits and values in parenting (199). If this is the case, it seems an organization like the Boys and Girls Club would be beneficial for children of working parents because it offers limits and guidlines; children are taught to become caring and responsbile citizens. Following Brumberg's beliefs, children would likely respond well to such an environment because "Adolescents raised in [...] permissive environment[s] become extremely stressed precisely because they have been denied a comfortable envelope of adult values that allow[...] them time to adjust emotionally to their developing bodies and new social roles" (199). Brumberg sees a need for a developmental period in today's youth with structure and guidance.
Jane Quinn sees a need for youth development programs as well, though again she is not as specific as my noted issue. Her article, however, can offer guidance through further investigation of low-income youth of working parents in developmental programs. Quinn sees youth development program's primary purpose as being "intentional about teaching young people new knowledge and allowing them to practice useful life skills" (98). Useful life skills seem essential to development; I would want to know, however, how youth programs motivate kids to learn such skills after a long day of much learning at school already. Quinn's emphasis on teaching life skills would likely coincide with Brumberg's emphasis on a need for guidance through development among young women; with life skills young women would learn what is necessary to become competent and valuable members of society.
Quinn discusses current theories in youth development, such as the current theory that "young adolescents need opportunities for physical activity, devlopment of competence and achievement, self-definition, creative expression, positive social interaction with peers and adults, a sense of structure and clear limits, and meaninful participation in authentic work" (103). Programs at the Boys and Girls Club offer all of the opportunities Quinn discusses, making my observations a good starting point for observing the effectiveness of programs like those at the club in regard to low-income youth development.
Quinn notes some difficulties could potentially arise for children of low-income families. These include "transportation, location of services (which includes safety considerations), and whether or not there are fees for services or for required items like uniforms" (105). This complicates my issue. Regardless of whether programs like those at the Boys and Girls Club benefit low-income youth of working parent's positive development, some may have too many barriers to access the beneficial programs. How do organizations make their programs more accessible?
Brumberg and Quinn demonstrate a need for guidance through adolescent development; I must now further investigate to find how programs like those at the Boys and Girls club benefit (or hinder), more specifically, the emotional and social development of low-income youth of working parents.
