Today’s young people spend an alarming amount of time in passive, solitary screen use, writes Shawna Rosenzweig, CEO of Camp Fire, a youth development organization, in an essay in The 74.
Research has linked heavy passive screen use among adolescents to increased anxiety, sleep disruption and lower well-being.
Young people need more of the opposite: active, unstructured play, time spent walking in nature and time with peers.
But many schools have reduced recess, arts and experiential learning in favor of more instructional time to improve academic performance.
After-school programs, youth organizations and camps can make a meaningful difference. Research shows that these and other types of out-of-school-time programs can help students develop social and emotional foundations that support school engagement.
Programs run by organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs of America, YMCA, 4-H, Camp Fire and thousands of local community organizations share several characteristics that appear to matter most:
- Hands-on learning opportunities such as building a robotics project, cooking together, being exposed to outdoor skills or working on creative arts allow students to experience curiosity and a sense of accomplishment in low-pressure environments.
- Meaningful relationships with peers, mentors and adults who are not grading their academic assignments help students build confidence, navigate social challenges and develop a stronger sense of belonging. Research has found that strong developmental relationships with adults are closely associated with higher school engagement and motivation.
- Programs often combine academic support with recreation. Homework help, literacy activities or STEM projects are embedded within collaborative and social settings. This balance allows students to rebuild academic confidence while still experiencing autonomy and enjoyment
Yet access to these programs remains uneven. According to the Afterschool Alliance, about 22 million children in the United States would enroll in an afterschool program if one were available to them. Cost, transportation barriers and limited program capacity often prevent participation, particularly in lower-income communities.
If policymakers are serious about addressing chronic absenteeism, expanding access to high-quality youth programs should be part of the strategy.
This means several things:
- States and districts should treat afterschool and summer programs as a core component of their chronic absenteeism strategies, not an afterthought.
- Federal Title IV funding under the Every Student Succeeds Act can be directed toward community-based youth programs, and more districts should use it that way.
- Schools can also build formal partnerships with organizations such as Camp Fire, Boys and Girls Clubs and local YMCAs, to help students connect with them rather than relying on parents and guardians to find these programs on their own.
- Transportation, one of the most stubborn barriers to participation, can be addressed through late bus routes or coordinated ride-sharing arrangements.
- In communities where demand far outpaces capacity, philanthropic and corporate investment in program expansion can help close the gap.
These programs are not another academic intervention. Their value lies in offering something different from the classroom. They create environments where young people can explore, collaborate, take healthy risks and experience the kind of unstructured, active time that fuels creativity and resilience.
These experiences may happen after school, in a community center, in a makerspace or around a campfire. But they can help students rediscover a reason to show up in the classroom.
The 74
