Studies have found that 1 in 5 school children in the United States are left alone at the end of the school day. This is why it’s so important to have high-quality afterschool programs available near South Tampa today! While it’s important for these programs to offer a safe space for children to go, this shouldn’t be the only thing they do. They should also provide youth with an opportunity to explore their potential inside a kid’s program that promotes positive youth development. This is why martial arts make for the perfect program!
Benefits of High-Quality Afterschool Programs Near South Tampa
Effective programs provide the opportunity for learning. These settings bring a wide array of benefits to youth, their families, and the communities around them. Martial arts kids programs are perfect here because they can do this in numerous ways, such as supporting emotional, social, academic, and cognitive development. These programs also promote physical health, reduce risky behaviors, and offer a safe, supportive environment for youth to thrive in at the end of their school day near South Tampa!
Supports Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
When children routinely attend a high-quality afterschool program near South Tampa, both their social and emotional competencies (e.g., prosocial behavior, intrinsic motivation, concentration, and sense of self-worth) will improve! This is important because SEL is the process through which the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are necessary for developing healthy identities, managing emotions, and achieving personal and collective goals.
Offers Academic Support and Improves School Participation
Attending a kid’s program near South Tampa will help improve their academic performance. One study discovered that over 40% of students who participated in a martial arts program were able to improve their grades! Those who attended more regularly were the ones who made the most gains. This is because they were able to gain the self-confidence they needed to be more engaged in class participation. They were also healthier and thus could attend and participate in school more frequently. Overall, kids programs also help reduce school dropout rates.
Martial Arts Keeps Children Safe
When children engage in these types of kids programs, they have more adult supervision in their lives! This helps them to feel safer because they’re less likely to be left unsupervised with their peers at the end of the school day. Older children don’t have to spend as much time looking after their younger siblings either. With this type of structure in their lives, positive youth development occurs more naturally. Since this means that there’s less pressure on the older siblings, they’re less likely to engage in risky behaviors (e.g., smoking, drug abuse). As such, they’re more likely to thrive!
Provides Support for Working Families
Afterschool programs are beneficial for both families and businesses alike since children have a safe place to be while the adults in their lives are at work! When such care isn’t available, children’s caregivers tend to miss eight days of work per year – something that results in decreased worker productivity, costing businesses around $300 billion annually.
Finding a High-Quality Afterschool Program
It’s vital to understand that not every child has equal access to these high-quality kids programs. There are significant disparities based on income, transportation, neighborhoods, and a variety of other factors. Although afterschool programs do exist in 9 out of 10 adult communities, over 19 million children can’t enroll in them.
Children can gain a lot from Elevate Martial Arts near South Tampa, Florida, including better focus, discipline, and physical health! In addition to learning martial arts techniques, children can also gain crucial life skills like respect and self-confidence in our after-school programs. Our school is committed to assisting students in realizing their full potential, both on and off the mat.
Picture Source: Elevate Martial Arts