Making the Decision to Participate in Organized After-School Activities: Perspectives From Mexican-Origin Adolescents and Their Parents

2020 ◽  
pp. 074355842096711
Author(s):  
Alex R. Lin ◽  
Nickki P. Dawes ◽  
Sandra D. Simpkins ◽  
Erin R. Gaskin
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Cultural Barriers ◽  
After School ◽  
Mexican Origin ◽  
Organized Activities ◽  
Cultural Brokers ◽  
School Activities ◽  
Rich Diversity ◽  
After School Activities

The decision to enroll in organized after-school activities involves a gradual negotiation of adolescents’ independence between family members who can hold contrasting views on adolescents’ autonomy. Furthermore, less is known about the culturally grounded nature of this decision-making process generally observed among the Latinx community, especially those from immigrant backgrounds, where adolescents may serve as the cultural brokers to help their families navigate through certain cultural barriers outside the home. In this study, we analyzed semi-structured interviews from a diverse group of 34 Mexican-origin parent-adolescent dyads living in a Southwest metropolitan area. Results indicate that decision making on organized activities can occur across multiple distinct pathways that reflect unilateral and mutual decision making based on the parents’ and adolescents’ level of involvement. The adolescents’ strong role as cultural brokers not only reflects a critical role of helping their parents navigate through the cultural barriers of the after-school world but can also empower them to have a greater voice within a context of positively developing a more equal basis of decision making in the parent-child dynamic. Findings from this study highlight the rich diversity among Mexican-origin families and can help further strengthen organized activities in being responsive to the diverse cultural practices of families.

Designing Culturally Responsive Organized After-School Activities

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra D. Simpkins ◽  
Nathaniel R. Riggs ◽  
Bic Ngo ◽  
Andrea Vest Ettekal ◽  
Dina Okamoto
Keyword(s):  
Youth Development ◽  
Culturally Responsive ◽  
Racial Diversity ◽  
School Funding ◽  
The United States ◽  
After School ◽  
Organized Activities ◽  
Developmental Needs ◽  
School Activities ◽  
After School Activities

Organized after-school activities promote positive youth development across a range of outcomes. To be most effective, organized activities need to meet high-quality standards. The eight features of quality developed by the National Research Council’s Committee on Community-Level Programs for Youth have helped guide the field in this regard. However, these standards have largely been defined in terms of universal developmental needs, and do not adequately speak to the growing ethnic and racial diversity within the United States, which is further complicated by issues of power and social class differences. Given U.S. population shifts and after-school funding priorities, the time has come to consider new ways to provide organized after-school activities that are responsive to youth’s culture and everyday lives. The goal of this article is to explore how we can help ensure that after-school activities are culturally responsive and address the specific needs of the youth who participate in these activities. Based on theory and empirical evidence, we provide proposed practices of cultural responsiveness for each of the eight features of quality for program structure and staff. The article concludes with future directions for research and strategies to implement culturally responsive practices and harness resources.

scholarly journals Sibling Behaviors and Mexican-Origin Adolescents’ After-School Activities

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chara D. Price ◽  
Sandra D. Simpkins ◽  
Cecilia Menjívar
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
After School ◽  
Mexican Origin ◽  
School Activities ◽  
Youth Population ◽  
After School Activities ◽  
Role Of Parents

Families are theorized to influence adolescents’ participation in skill-based after-school activities, but research has focused on the role of parents while neglecting the role of siblings. Siblings might be especially critical for Mexican-origin youth, the fastest growing youth population in the United States, due to a high value of family as well as having a larger number of and spending more time with siblings compared with other groups. This mixed-method study of 34 Mexican-origin seventh-grade adolescents provides preliminary evidence for how siblings might influence adolescents’ skill-based organized and informal after-school activities. Qualitative findings suggest that siblings influenced adolescents’ activities through eight unique behaviors (i.e., support, provider of information, role modeling, comparison, negativity, babysitting, transportation, and activity co-participation). Follow-up quantitative analysis suggested some sibling behaviors were more likely to be mentioned based on sibling characteristics, individual characteristics, and neighborhoods. The study highlights new theory, emerging future directions, and ways to promote positive after-school activities via siblings.

scholarly journals SCHOOL-AGE CARE, AN IDEOLOGICAL CONTRADICTION

2012 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-51
Author(s):  
Peter Karlsudd
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
After School ◽  
School Age ◽  
Intellectually Disabled ◽  
School Activities ◽  
After School Activities ◽  
The One ◽  
Compulsory Schools ◽  
Care System

In the doctoral dissertation "Children with intellectual disability in the integrated school-age care system" the extent and goal fulfilment of after-school recreation centre activities in 19 Swedish municipalities were studied. The study gave high marks to these centres for integrating intellectually disabled children into their activities. The empirics of the dissertation revealed, however, a number of warning signals, which indicated an increase in offering “special solutions” to these children. This article will contain a comparison between the study from 1999 and the one carried out in the spring of 2011. The two studies have followed the same question construction in order to achieve a comparison over time. The aim of study, focusing on children received into schools for the intellectually disabled was to evaluate to what extent integrated activities occurred and to look for factors with a positive impact on the quality of those after-school activities which gathered children from these and compulsory schools in the same groups. On the basis of the comparison made between the 12 years that have passed from the earlier to the later study, it must be regretfully concluded that segregated activities have gained a firm hold on the activities of after-school recreation care centres. Key words: after-school activities, inclusion, integrated, intellectual disability, school-age care system.

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