By Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown

Did you know that children only spend 20 percent of their time during their waking hours in school? I know that figure took me by surprise. The question then becomes what are our children doing with the other 80 percent of their time?

Unfortunately, disproportionately for those children who do not have the opportunity to participate in constructive programs, they become involved in self-destructive behavior. The crime rate for juveniles rises dramatically between the hours of 3pm to 6pm, the hours when youth are not in school.

Because of a variety of circumstances in today's society, many parents simply cannot supervise their children during after-school hours. It is therefore incumbent on society to fill the gaps. As they say, "It takes a village…"

Our inclination to make real improvements in after-school programs as a City, State, and Nation has been lacking in quantity and quality. Individuals may ask, "With so many needs in the City, can we afford to put scarce resources into after-school programs?" My response is that we not only need to allocate resources for these programs, but we also need to increase our support. There can be no more an efficient use of dollars as far as I am concerned.

Momentum is building to push the tide in a positive direction. For example, as a first step, the City of Philadelphia has unveiled the Children's Investment Strategy (CIS). The focus of CIS is to fill the time when children are out of school with structured programs that promote their health, well being and achievement. Through CIS the City will provide quality after-school programs with grants to sustain their good work with youth. A program that puts children in a room with one red ball and one inexperienced supervisor will not be funded under this scrutinized process. Stringent guidelines will need to be followed to receive grant approval. The Street Administration and the coalition he has assembled should be applauded for making this initiative quality-driven.

Quality is so important when we speak of after-school programs. The red ball program will not maintain the interest of children and will not provide them with any long-term benefit. Studies abound about the benefits of quality after-school programs. A compelling study from the University of Wisconsin indicates children who spend more time in quality after-school programs have better school attendance, less aggression, stronger work habits and enhanced interpersonal skills than those who did not spend as much time in after school programs.

Why this message to the Philadelphia Tribune reading public today? We recently celebrated "Lights On Afterschool Day" in City Council. This national celebration, sponsored by the Afterschool Alliance, asks after-school programs to promote the benefits of their activities. I believe that advocacy should occur every day until every child has the opportunity to participate in a quality program.

My appeal is to both the public and private sectors…let's do everything in our power to provide enrichment opportunities for our young people during the hours when they are not in school. The bottom line is, are we a society that is willing to do what is right for our kids and give them the tools necessary to create a positive future for themselves?

I look forward to the day when we will not need to draw attention to after-school programs because there is a need for more but to celebrate the successes of youth given opportunity. I am optimistic about our will to coalesce on this issue and to celebrate the successes that result from substantive quality approaches to youth development.