Early Childhood and After-School Programs Fight

Smoking, Crime, Teen Pregnancy, and Drugs

 

When we help kids get the right start, the risk that they will become teen delinquents or adult criminals plummets &emdash and so does the risk that they will smoke, use drugs, or become pregnant as teens. What really works to reduce all these risks?

 

After-School Programs

Good after-school programs keep kids out of harm’s way while teaching the skills and core values they need to succeed. We know that the peak hours of violent juvenile crime are 3 PM to 9 PM, and that good after-school programs in high crime areas can cut by as much as 3/4 the high school student’s risk of becoming involved in crime. And being supervised after school cuts in half the risk that middle school kids will smoke, drink, or abuse drugs, and reduces teen pregnancy as well.

 

Early Childhood Education

Enrolling kids in the High/Scope Perry Pre-school program cut by 4/5 the risk they would grow up to be chronic lawbreakers &endash and cut by 1/5 the risk that they would become smokers.

 

Parenting Education

Providing parent-coaching home visits to low-income mothers beginning prenatally up to age two halved the risk that their children would be delinquent at age 15, and cut nearly in half their children’s cigarette smoking. Equally important, the visits cut mothers’ smoking during pregnancy by more than 27%. Such smoking puts babies at risk of miscarriage, learning disabilities and behavior problems. Among women who were smokers when they became pregnant, the visits cut premature births by 3/4.

 

Saving Money and Lives

Each day we fail to make proven investments like these, we multiply kids’ risk of smoking and every American’s risk of crime. The RAND Corporation and others have also shown that these investments actually save tax dollars by cutting crime and other costs. The bottom line: We’ll actually have more money to spend in the future &endash whether on public health or tax cuts &endash if we invest now in quality educational child care, parenting-support, and after-school programs. These are among our most powerful weapons against crime, smoking, drug use and teen pregnancy.

  For research on the crime-prevention impact of investments in kids, check out www.fightcrime.org