B Shop Boys and Girls Club participants
As the new school year begins, many working parents are faced with the quandary about what to do with their tweens and teens after school.
A number of factors help determine whether kids stay home alone: maturity, comfort being home alone, and how well they get along with their siblings. But this decision is solely up to parents because Pennsylvania has no law specifying what age children are permitted to be home alone. Kids that age are clamoring for freedom, though they often require supervision. Thankfully, there are options for parents.
The Link 4 Youth in New Cumberland offers an after-school program from 3 to 6 p.m. for fourth- to 12th-grade students. When the students arrive, “they get that first hour to de-stress,” said Saundra Colello, executive director. The program offers opportunities to expend the pent-up energy from a day of learning at school—climbing the rock wall, shooting hoops, playing tag around the building, or simply just sitting and relaxing.
Boys & Girls Club of Harrisburg provides a similar after-school experience for children, with a wider age range of 6 to 18 years old.
“It is an activity-based program,” said Arnold Taylor, director of programs and a previous Harrisburg club participant.
Taylor said that, while people often think that the club is a school or a daycare, it’s neither.
“What we’re looking to do here is to allow children to come into the Boys & Girls Club, find what their niche is, and help them grow that niche to help them grow their skills,” he said.
Like The Link 4 Youth, the club aims to keep kids off the streets and out of trouble during the after-school hours. At the very least, parents don’t want their kids scrolling social media or playing video games all afternoon.
“So parents don’t have to worry about where their kids are—if they are safe, if they are in a good place,” Taylor said.
Link takes the fight against phone scrolling one step further and has the youth put their phones in a clear lockbox.
“They can see their phones because the lockbox is clear,” Colello said. “So, they have security that ‘my phone is still there,’ but they’re not allowed their phones.”
These programs make access easy. Link provides transportation at no cost for schools in the West Shore School District. Boys & Girls Club provides transportation for $25 a week from Harrisburg School District schools, as well as a few private schools. There is no general program fee for The Link 4 Youth. The Boys & Girls Club has a $20 yearly fee, but scholarships are available for costs associated with the program.
Neither program limits attendance to geography.
“If you live in Texas, and can get here today, you can,” laughed Taylor.
The B Shop Boys and Girls Club is another, smaller after-school program, primarily focused on hands-on learning. Joshua Barker began the Harrisburg-based nonprofit four years ago. Barker grew up in a tough area of Brooklyn, N.Y., he said.
“I understand the importance of kids having after-school programs to keep them engaged and out of trouble,” he said.
Barker, a licensed contractor, involves middle and high school youth in helping renovate buildings that are then used for lower-income housing. The shop will work on transforming an office building into eight apartments.
“My wife and I, what we want to do is teach kids life learning skills, one of them being skill sets, vocational trades,” he said.
Participating youth also get a small stipend.
“The reality is that kids want to get money,” Barker said. “We can’t ignore that fact.”
The shop focuses on students’ current realities, as well as possibilities for the future.
“It’s a safe place to go and learn and get knowledge and leave with a skill set,” Barker said. “You can go anywhere in the world with skills.”
After the kids get the wiggles out at The Link 4 Youth, they offer formal programming including an on-site garden, speakers, an optional Bible study and other options. Boys & Girls Club provides tutoring, career readiness, health and wellness, and basic life skills. Taylor said that students often aim for sports as a career path, and the club helps them find plan “B” and plan “C.” Many students aren’t aware of all the options available to them, he said.
The after-school hours can be relaxing, fun and safe for students. For parents who have decided that their children need a more supervised afterschool life, there are programs available at little to no cost to help make that happen.
“Our motto is to provide a safe, positive place for kids,” Taylor said.
The Link 4 Youth is located at 1120 Drexel Hills Blvd., New Cumberland. For more information, visit www.thelink4youth.org.
Boys & Girls Club of Harrisburg has several locations in the city. For more information, visit www.bgchbg.org.
For more information about The B Shop Boys and Girls Club, contact them at [email protected] or 717-882-7736.
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