Intramural sports key to youth well-being
Knowing the stimulus money will eventually run out, schools should use their current surplus funds to build infrastructure.
The idle hours between the end of the school day and dinner time when at least one parent returns home are among the most dangerous for our youth. Experimentation with substances, crime and any cadre of ways to “fit in” are among the many worries.
Our most at-risk youth are being sent home after school to the isolation and inactivity of their empty homes or apartments, where they’re also vulnerable to the temptations and dangers of new technology. We know that that social media, the only companion for many of these kids, can be a threat to their mental health.
Lack of physical movement, known to be one of the best preventers and remedies of angst and sadness, and prolonged activity on social media have all led to increases in childhood obesity, anxiety and depression.
So how do we fix this? We go to where the kids are and the kids are at the schools.
Experts and research tell us that kids need and benefit from having at least one adult in their life, who is not a parent, whom they know cares for them and will hold them accountable. Those kids who survive these challenging years do so best if they can find a niche — something they enjoy and feel competent doing. Finally, all kids have a need to belong and build relationships.
Our most at-risk kids are in our middle schools. It’s also the age where we pull recess, cut physical education hours and don’t offer movement-based after-school programs. While private enterprises are building profit-driven indoor sports centers for evening and weekend use, almost all of our public school gyms, fields and outdoor play spaces are going unused after school.
We need to make it possible and attractive for as many kids to stay at school and play. We need to bring back intramural sports and other physical literacy development programs to communities around the United States.
Today, states, schools and municipalities suddenly find themselves awash with stimulus cash. Sadly, much of this money comes with the very silly and incredibly short-sighted caveat of “use it or lose it.”
Towns are asking taxpayers how to use their stimulus money. Most of the suggested fixes are shortsighted and unsustainable, setting up communities for disappointment when programs are eventually cut when the stimulus money runs out.
After-school intramural programs can be low cost and high impact if properly run. These programs can’t be glorified babysitting programs, nor can they be so hyper-structured that they make it impossible to train instructors and look no different than the programs that already scare kids away.
We need a “no laps, no lines, no lectures,” easy-to-implement program using existing facilities where we train onsite staff and pay them an attractive wage for working after school.
The program can also include leadership training for high school students who can act as mentors at their former schools. Most schools already have funds that could be used to run programs like this for hundreds of kids, but don’t because upfront costs are intimidating.
Knowing the stimulus money will eventually run out, schools should use their current surplus funds to build infrastructure. That way, when the monies run out, the systems are in place and the only costs are ones the school could have afforded to begin with.
COVID-19 has been devastating in many ways, but it has offered us the chance to hit the reset button. The time is now to be proactive. If we want to improve health outcomes, decrease problem behaviors, reduce the amount of anxiety and depression we see in our adolescents then we need to use this time to get in front of these problems instead of throwing money at fixes that year after year are too little, too late.