The Importance Of After School Programs College Park GA

By Elaine Guthrie


Whether or not you live in Union City GA, or within an urban center, finding care for children is an important part of being a working parent. The person to whom you entrust your offspring must have certain values in common with the parent, and this can make finding care difficult. This issue becomes even more stressful to resolve for those seeking after school programs College Park GA.

This small city is within the greater Atlanta metro area, and for the common traveler it appears to be no different than any other suburb. When one sees the houses and neighborhoods, it is not much different than any other middle-class suburban neighborhood. However, due to the presence of government housing in the area, and the many gang-related incidents therein, the reputation it has is not always deserved.

There are some areas of housing not spoken of nearly as much on the local news, and that would be the college dormitory housing. Young people who grow up in this part of Atlanta are accustomed to seeing the college students change classes, and many of these kids hold down jobs that allow them to interact with students. This helps to foster a focus on education, and many who grow up in the housing complex do go on to attend college themselves.

Even so, is it the law that no child under the age of twelve is permitted to be home alone on a daily basis. This means that, while the child is too old for day care, they are too young to come home to an empty house. These laws are in place to stop the latch-key problem which became apparent in the 1980s.

Unfortunately, there are no middle schools providing child care, and some elementary schools do not either. While lack of funding is usually the problem, some administrators will tell you that there is a lack of interest on the part of parents. To fill in the childcare gap, the Boys and Girls Clubs have programs in these neighborhoods.

However, if one wishes their pre-teen or teen to attend a Boys and Girls Club center, they must be able to enroll their child as much as a year ahead of time. There are few slots available, and they go very quickly. Once in, few parents remove their kids from the program until their kids are at least in high school.

Due to the scarcity of child care available for pre-teens and children past the age of six, many parents have a friend or neighbor watch their young one. This creates an income opportunity for a stay-at-home parent, and also helps to fill the childcare gap. However, anyone wishing to engage in this business should know the laws regarding child care in their state.

No matter what sort of care is being sought, parents are wise to make sure their children have guidance and supervision throughout their day. It is a lack of adult presence which so often results in young people seeking gangs and drugs. No matter what city or state, town or suburb, the presence of latch-key kids is never a good thing.




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