Middle School Mania
by Carole L. Eller, Senior Extension Educator
University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension
Storrs, CT
The bell rings loudly at 2.15 p.m. and the first students arrive at the after-school program. They come in pushing and shoving. If you didn't know better, you would think they were seven or eight years old. Shortly thereafter the next group arrives. They are wearing baggy pants and backward caps. They saunter in trying to look cool. The girls arrive. Two four-foot cherubs come in with their Barbie dolls and another group enters looking like they are Barbie Dolls.
Some of these kids are starving and head for the snack counter immediately. Others will not touch a crumb of food if they think someone is looking. The kids in a middle school program may range from 10 to 15 years old, but developmentally they may span an even greater range. The challenge becomes providing for the needs of the total group.
According to Caring By Design, a publication of the American Business Collaborative, young people need:
Middle schoolers are not interested in attending "child care." Your program must have another name, preferably one chosen by the kids. The rules of the traditional licensed child care program must be adapted by altering the regulations for school-age care. Middle schoolers may not need the same ratio of adults to youth. They may not need to have a parent sign them out and they may be able to help themselves to snacks whenever they are hungry.
Programs for middle schoolers need to be emotionally and physically safe. The staff and youth should create this atmosphere together. Kids need to be accepted for who they are and to accept others. This may be hard at an age where cliques are common, but it provides an area for group discussion.
At this age, it is developmentally appropriate to learn new skills and to practice independence. Kids need to move into the community to explore careers, use newly acquired skills and provide services. They may plan activities to carry out with a preschool program or elementary school-age program. Kids can also participate in community projects like beautifying a park.
Youth need to feel they belong and that their ideas are valued. The staff may create the framework and provide some ideas for the program, but the kids should plan and choose what they will do. In this process, staff must encourage kids to stick with an activity long enough to discover if they enjoy it. For example, a student might sign up for the photography group and become frustrated the first day trying to load the camera. They might want to quit the group, but should be encouraged to stay. They might have a talent for taking creative pictures or be a wizard at developing film.
Lastly, kids need a place where friendships can grow and be nurtured. A place where they can informally interact and hang out at least part of the time.
Building programs for 10 - 15-year-olds is a new challenge for many preschool and school-age providers. Programming and structures are really based upon principles of positive youth development. Understanding pre-adolescent and adolescent growth and development are key to program development. Training and resources may be available from traditional youth-serving agencies.
Resource
Caring By Design, American Business Collaborative, Work Family Directions. Available from School-Age Notes, P.O. Box 40205 Nashville, TN 37204