Communities benefit from healthy youth recreation programs

In my world, life?s greatest lessons have been learned through a competitive nature and the belief that if failure exists, it came from people who didn?t realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

To me, it is all about focus. If you plan to win, your dedication to the game plan and your desire to be the best you can be must be channeled so that they are not affected by distractions.

It is not easy.

It would be natural to question what significance those words have regarding business and a vibrant municipal economy.

In reply, I heartily emphasize that the lessons learned by children through sponsored youth activities within their city will help mold them into the adults they will become.

An immediate benefit of recreational activities is that they fill unsupervised after-school hours. It has been established that youths are most likely to commit crimes between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., with crime rates peaking at 3 p.m.

Recreational programs allow youths to connect with adults and other children in their community. Such positive friendships assist children as they grow older.

Sponsored youth programs are designed to fit the personalities and skills of different children. They may include sports, dancing, music, rock climbing, drama, karate, bowling and art.

The economic benefits derived from this sort of curriculum begin with a desired excellent quality of life and factor in a lower crime rate. Corporate CEOs say that quality of life for employees is the third most important factor in deciding where to locate a business.

Youths who participate in structured recreational activities have reduced rates of criminal activity (statistically shown to be by as much as 71 percent), antisocial behavior and increased success in post-secondary education.

These activities can also provide safe, developmental opportunities for latch-key youths, who have reduced prospects for physical activity and socialization because of a lack of parental supervision.

The decrease in the use of emergency services (medical, child welfare, police, fire and so on) and increased proactive use of health promotional services result in lower costs to the taxpayer.

The establishment of positive individual character through involvement in youth recreational activity, as well as economic benefits from a lower crime rate, are paybacks to society.

Steve Curtis has worked as a business consultant and communication specialist. He is currently mayor of Layton.

Source: http://www.standard.net/stories/2012/03/15/communities-benefit-healthy-youth-recreation-programs

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