Six tips to combat youth burnout in afterschool programs
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EmailWhen youth arrive at an afterschool program, they are often tired, stressed and over-stimulated after a long day of school. Incorporate just a few easy strategies into your program planning to accommodate these feelings and build stronger programs.
Today’s youth are busy. Between the school day, sports and extracurricular opportunities, youth from kindergarten to high school have less unstructured free time than ever. Parents picking children up from their final activity of the day may be familiar with a common occurrence: the afterschool meltdown. Youth are asked to keep their emotions in check throughout the long school day into sports practices or tutoring or club meetings. When they reach a safe space—be it the back seat of the car or two steps into the house—they reach their limit of keeping those emotions in check. Youth are experiencing after-school restraint collapse.
When after-school restraint collapse happens at home, parents can step in and mitigate the impact. They provide immediate support to their children and help them process these big feelings. What, then, happens to youth who experience after-school restraint collapse before they are at home? What if the safe space they reach at the end of the day is an after-school program? Consider the six tips below as you plan your after-school program.
- Include transition time. The consistent lack of unstructured free time is a contributing factor to youth burnout. When you are planning your afterschool program, it is important to provide time for youth to arrive and settle in their activity. Consider ten minutes as a starting point.
- Snacks for success. It is difficult to concentrate on an empty stomach. When building a program budget, always include a healthy snack line item.
- Incorporate physical activity. We all know the importance of recess as a tool for youth learning and growth; it is the original unstructured free time. While your afterschool program may not have the time to afford youth 30 minutes of unstructured play, you can incorporate mindful physical activity. Consider yoga or stretching, or, if you are more ambitious, peruse this list of activities.
- Use youth voice to create engaging activities. An important way to build self-confidence in youth is to allow them to have input on the things that will impact them. Ask youth what they would like to do in their after-school program. What activities or subject areas interest them? If your program uses a set curriculum or intervention model, consider other areas for youth voice and leadership. Perhaps they can lead a meeting, physical activity or an ice breaker.
- Consider your youth-to-adult ratio. It is difficult to provide youth the support they need when you, as the program leader, are already spread too thin. Work on a ratio of at least one adult for every ten participating youth and increase adult presence when working with more involved projects and activities.
- Know when to call it. There are days when kids are, to put it simply, not feeling it. Maybe it’s close to the holidays or maybe there was an event at school. Whatever it might have been, it’s thrown your group of students completely out of whack. When this happens, lean into physical activity. Get them up, get them moving, and plan to circle back to project-specific work at your next meeting.
Remember, after-school restraint collapse is not a reflection on how good or bad a program is. It’s not a reflection on students’ interest and ability to focus. It is a by-product of packed schedules. Spend extra time during your program planning process considering these strategies to blunt its impact and reap the rewards of healthy and engaged program participants.
Michigan State University Extension and Michigan 4-H Youth Development help to prepare young people for successful futures. To find out how to get involved as a youth participant or an adult volunteer, contact your county MSU Extension office.
