School extras help kids succeed

Public school systems across the country are facing severe budget cuts. While declines in funding undoubtedly provoke thorny questions about how to spend available money, school leaders should continue supporting extracurricular programs and activities. When meaningful interaction exists among children, families and educators in schools, young people generally thrive.

Community engagement is associated with a wide range of positive outcomes, according to Harvard professor Robert D. Putnam. When young people are involved in trustworthy, active communities, they “tend not to become parents, drop out of school, get involved in crime, or die prematurely due to suicide or homicide.”

Putnam also notes that while some states “have healthy civic adults and healthy well-adjusted kids,” others, including many in the South, “face immense challenges in both the adult and youth populations.”

Nationally, about 1.2 million students drop out of school each year and only 70 percent of students graduate on time.

In Atlanta the numbers are worse. A mere 44 percent of Atlanta public high school students graduate on time. Atlanta also ranked 45 out of the 50 largest cities in the America’s Promise Alliance national report on graduation rates.

If policy-makers are serious about improving educational and life outcomes among schoolchildren, they should invest in extracurricular programs. Clubs, sports and other activities allow students to interact with teachers, administrators and volunteers in ways that benefit both students and the community.

Consider the following examples:

? Habitat for Humanity clubs address the need for affordable housing;

? Athletic teams help students grasp important connections between practice, self-discipline, teamwork and improvement;

? Foreign language and cultural clubs expand students’ worldview beyond U.S. borders;

? Art, music and dance clubs develop skills in cooperation and stimulate creativity; and

? Student government associations expose youngsters to the democratic process and allow them to shape their institutions.

Conversely, students who lack viable social outlets are more likely to hang out on the streets and become teenage parents more often.

Opponents are likely to argue that tax money should support components of the regular instructional day instead of “extras” that can be provided by church leagues, the YMCA and the Boys and Girls’ Club rather than schools. It is certainly true that school finances are strained and schools are being pressured to raise test scores. Schools do need additional computers, improved opportunities for professional development and more classroom resources.

Yet those who frown on funding extracurricular activities should recognize the benefits that those investments are likely to return. Socially cohesive schools are more likely to receive parental support, experience fewer disciplinary problems and produce more engaged and purposeful learners.

Young people who continue to be involved with their schools after the final bell rings may also be more likely to forge friendships across lines of race, socioeconomics and academic track.

Moreover, schools are often the place where students begin regular involvement with the arts, sports and supplemental academic endeavors such as debate teams, especially in low-income communities.

When school board members (and others) make decisions about how to spend their system’s dollars, they should recognize the extra-curriculum’s worth — not only in their rhetoric but also in their fiscal choices.

Carla R. Monroe is a research scientist at the Institute for Behavioral Research at the University of Georgia.