Findings suggest that “after-school programs can promote social competence and academic performance by providing challenging and meaningful opportunities for youth engagement (Shernoff).”

For kids who struggle to make friends at school or have a rough home life, after school programs can be crucial in providing positive relationships and role models. They provide children with a close group of friends in a less stressful and competitive environment than school. Having these more relaxed spaces can help shy students to open up more.

88% of parents say that after school programs help kids develop strong social skills. That’s a significant percentage of parents. Like the infographic says, 19.4 million kids are left out. It’s important that we implement after school programs everywhere so that every student can develop strong social skills.