Sad Statistics

I've been prayng about what to do if the Zion Project ends up happening and I move to the Edison neightborhood. I am excited at the possibilities, and I am very excited as God continually reveals more and more to me of what His plans are for my life and minstry. I was looking up informaion on After School Programs, as that is one of my passions, and I found out some really sad statistics about the state of the after-school hours in the US.

The hours between 3 and 6 pm, during the school year are the times for youth to engage in or be victims of violent crime, engage in sexual activities, and use drugs and alcohol. 262,000-490,000 kids kindergarten to eighth grade in Michigan are regularly caring for themselves after school. I also found out that tenth graders who are not involved in extra-curricular activities are 57% more likely to drop out of school, 49% more likely to use drugs, 37% more likely to smoke, and 27% more likely to be arrested than 10th graders who spent one to four hours a week in extracuricular activities.

Sad statistics, but something that hopefully will be changed soon. I don't know if you've noticed, but a lot of commercials about after school programs have been on the air laetly, and there is also a greater initiative toward providing quality, low or no-cost after school programs available in every community.