The Issues and Assets of African Youth on Staten Island's North Shore:

Finally, access <strong>of</strong> <strong>African</strong> youth to after school <strong>and</strong> otheryouth programs is also limited by parental perceptions thatafter school programs are not necessarily positive places fortheir children.Reasons parents do not send their children to afterschoolprograms: Lack <strong>of</strong> confidence that child will attend: Parentsreport that they cannot know if their child isactually in the program – they may say they aregoing there but then do not. Feel there are not enough staff to support thenumber <strong>of</strong> youth Feel that staff do not pay enough attention toparticipants Feel that other youth in afterschool programs willnegatively influence (peer pressure) their child Feels child is not safe from getting beat up byother youth“It is especially in the school were both thegood <strong>and</strong> bad kids meet. <strong>The</strong>y sit in theclass together, go to lunch, <strong>and</strong> playtogether <strong>and</strong> give the bad kids enough timeto pollute the minds <strong>of</strong> other good childrenaround them. So sending them to an afterschool program is like helping to introduceyour kids to many different things. <strong>The</strong> kidsare left alone in the after school programs.<strong>The</strong>re are not many teachers to meet theneeds <strong>of</strong> the children. Sometime the kids donot go to the programs; you may be thinkingyour child is in after school, but they are outon the streets. And before you realize yourchild could be in so much trouble.” 55Asset: <strong>Youth</strong> creativity, energy, interests <strong>and</strong>resilienceSome <strong>of</strong> the most striking <strong>and</strong> essential assets in the NorthShore are youth‟s creativity, energy, interests, <strong>and</strong>resilience. When given the opportunity to have a voice, youthwho participated in the Project Design Contest awed theyouth <strong>and</strong> adult audience with their ideas, preparedness,<strong>and</strong> ability to articulate their perspectives.Though they said staying away from negative <strong>and</strong> unsafesituations is not easy <strong>and</strong> they get normalized to things theysee every day, such as drug dealing, youth reported severalpositive strategies to deal with their problems <strong>and</strong> living inunsafe conditions, including: Talking to adults who will listen Avoiding negative people or situations <strong>and</strong> not beingout in the community much Getting a job Going somewhere the youth feels safe (such asYMCA or other community center) Concentrating on school Reading to escape<strong>The</strong>se strategies <strong>and</strong> the diverse interests can be built uponto help youth succeed.55 Parent interview, November 17, 2008.31