After-School News

California's law enforcement leaders know from experience and the research that the hours from 3 to 6 PM on school days are the "prime time for juvenile crime." Nationally, more than seven school-age children in every ten are in households where both parents or the only parent are in the workforce. On a regular basis, more than 10 million children and teens are left unsupervised by adults. A recent poll of California teens, ages 12-17, found that nearly one million, or three out of 10 California teens, are left unsupervised three or more days each week. Those teens are three times more likely than supervised youths to engage in criminal behavior. Studies show that after school is the peak time for teens to commit crime, be a victim of crime, be in or cause a car crash and smoke, drink or use drugs. Quality, constructive and highly supervised programs can cut crime immediately and convert after school hours into safe learning time. One high-quality program found that boys left out of the program averaged six times more crimes than teens in the program. A study of Boys & Girls clubs showed that housing projects without the clubs had 50 percent more vandalism and 37 percent worse drug activity. Teens in one California after-school program were half as likely to be rearrested than teens not in the program.

Reports

All Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California reports on after-school:

"Many people believe kids are most likely to get in trouble at night or on the weekends, but it is really the after-school hours that law enforcement worries about."

-Albert Najera, Sacramento Police Chief

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• The single hour most likely for a teen to commit a violent crime-homicide, rape, robbery, or assault-is between 3 PM and 4 PM.
• High school kids commit four out of five juvenile crimes in California.