The Disadvantages Of Community-Based After Schools

Being an immigrant is not easy. Growing up in a foreign place where one does not speak the language and is completely unfamiliar to the culture can definitely put oneself in isolation. Identity has been one major issue for most minorities and immigrants. Should they maintain their culture or should they conform? This is why community is crucial for them as it is the closest thing they have to their homeland, especially for the immigrant youths who are in a constant battle in adapting to the American lifestyle while still trying to maintain their roots. There are a number of programs that could provide the sense of belonging for these immigrants, and a community-based after-school program is one of them. Although community-based after-school …show more content…
According to a report published in The Under the Microscope, immigrant youth are more likely to be more violent and hostile. Based on their report, of all ethnicities in Oakland, Samoan, Cambodian, and Laos youth have the second, third and fourth highest arrest rates, respectively. Pacific Islander students in Oakland also have the highest dropout rate compared to other ethnicities (Le et. al. 78). However, a research that was done by UC Berkeley in collaboration with The East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC) has shown that immigrants youth who were at risk showed less truancy and discipline problems when they participated in a community-based after school programs. While the results of the research showed no significant differences in the statistics due to the time constraint of the experiment, the youths who participated continued on becoming mentors and there were a lot of success stories ensuing the experiment (81). This research has shown that it is detrimental for these students to be in the correct environment in order to reduce or prevent violence. As most immigrant students tend to be classified “at-risk students”, most community-based afterschool programs tend to organize their programs to accommodate and engage with these students. A study done by Durlak and Roger has shown that community-based afterschool programs focus on “problem-solving, …show more content…
Most youth immigrants tend to have low self-acceptance and self-worth due to the fact that they usually feel like an outcast. Most of them also tend to feel inferior due to low level of proficiency in English. However, the study on the community-based afterschool program for Latino students has demonstrated increase in self-development and self-acceptance, which eventually leads to improvement in self-worth