Other than being eaten alive by mosquitos (my official mosquito count is 93), it has been another spectacular week up North. On Monday morning I packed up my bags and left the dorm rooms for 100 Mile House.

108 Mile Ranch- where I am staying

This past week I have been working at the Cariboo Family Enrichment Centre. I have been doing a variety of things including working in the daycare with infants and toddlers and the drop in Youth Zone in town. The Youth Zone is a free and safe place where teenagers can go to hang out. It is also a place where they can openly talk about any problems they may be having at home, in school or with friends. It is an absolutely wonderful place for kids. The Youth Zone has a ping-pong table, pool table, air hockey table, computers, Xbox, and tons of games. The inside has a 1960’s diner décor to it that is very fun!

The Youth Zone

While spending time at the Youth Zone, I couldn’t help but wonder if there is something like this in large cities like Vancouver. I think it is such a wonderful place for kids to stay out of trouble and definitely something that could be great in any town or city. A place like Youth Zone provides kids with opportunities to express themselves, meet new people, and reaches children of all different needs, backgrounds, and interests.

I also thought about how this sort of program could be implemented in an after school setting. Most elementary schools have some sort of after school program for parents to put their kids in, but I don’t think there are many secondary schools with similar programs. Often the times when youth are getting into trouble is after school hours when they are unsupervised and have nothing to fill their time. The After School Alliance reported ”on school days, 3-6 PM are the peak hours for teens to commit crimes, be in or cause car crashes, be victims of crime, and smoke, drink and use drugs.” Further, studies have shown that “afterschool programs decrease crime and increase student safety”.   With statistics like these it is hard to believe there are not more programs offered to deter students from participating in unsafe and/or illegal behaviours. A program like Youth Zone provides alternative activities for kids to participate in after school. It would be wonderful if this could be available to all students across the province. Although I think it would be great if this program was offered at all schools, I think part of the success of Youth Zone is having it outside of a school where kids can actually leave school. There is something about leaving school that is appealing to students of this age group. Also having a place where kids from different schools can meet and interact is important.

Over the weekend, I headed back up to the dorm rooms in Williams Lake to spend time with the other student teachers. School District 27 gave us all the opportunity to go horseback riding to add to our Cariboo experience. We had an absolute blast! Check out the pictures from our trail ride.

http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/issue_briefs/issue_crimeib_27.pdf