Kids, Businesses Rally For After School Programs

Dozens of teens and pre-teens crowded near the Thursday afternoon, eating snacks, collecting free samples from exhibitor tables and sitting on the floor to hear speeches.

Mayor Robert Callero praised the Teen Center for the opportunities it provides kids, and Niles Police Chief Dean Strzelecki said mothers who work outside the home worry most about their kids from 3 to 6 p.m., the hours between the end of school and the parents' arrival home from work.

As many as 15 million children go to an empty house after school on any given day because the parents are working, according to Strzelecki.

"These children are left unsupervised, which could lead them in many avenues, committing crimes, being victims of crime, car crashes, or worse yet smoking, drinking, or drug use," the police chief said, adding that after school programs such as the Niles Teen Center offer children a constructive alternative.

"These programs reduce crime, increase safety, and foster community pride and ownership," he explained, adding that studies of welfare families indicated boys and girls who did not participate in after school programs are four times more likely to be without high school degrees and less than half as likely to be in college.

In addition to the program, a number of youth-oriented organizations and businesses exhibited at tables just outside the Teen Center, which is located near Entrance 6 of .

They included Cub Scout Pack 175 and Boy Scout Troop 175, the Niles Baseball Organization, , , the Niles Chamber of Commerce, MaineStay Youth and Family Services, , Shim's Martial Arts, Patch.com and others.

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