Lynn YMCA participates in Lights On After School Program

LYNN – Serving nearly 300 children between the ages of 5-18 on a nightly basis, the Greater Lynn YMCA is a haven for many students and their families who need to utilize valuable after school programs.For the eighth year in a row, the organization participated in the Lights On After School program, led by the After School Alliance, which recognizes after school programs by opening them up to parents, community leaders and legislators to show the importance of these activities.The Greater Lynn YMCA offers several programs for students after school, including a licensed program that serves 160 students, a drop-in program that serves 50-75 students and various sports and preschool options.”On any given day we probably have 300 young people between 5-18 here from 3-8 p.m.,” said Director of Child Care Tania Buck. “It is a main location for after school happenings in the city. The kids are really, really involved with what is happening after school.”After school programs are essential in a community such as Lynn, which has a large population of parents who work multiple jobs and cannot always be there for kids after school or on days off. This, combined with the ever-increasing threat of gangs, drugs and violence in some areas of the city, could create potentially dangerous and life-altering situations for children.A recent meeting by the Massachusetts Special Commission on After-School and Out-of-School Time held at North Shore Community College drew the largest crowd of any such meeting in the state, consisting of parents, students and teachers who all spoke of the importance of these programs in students’ lives.The meeting was designed to help organizers of the commission brainstorm ideas for statewide after school programs, and to gauge a better idea of the need for these programs in the state.In November, the commission, led by state Sen. Thomas McGee, D-Lynn and state Rep. Marie St. Fleur, D-Boston, plans to release its report on how to expand and improve access to affordable, high-quality after-school and out-of-school time programs for all children throughout Massachusetts.”Lights On After School, like the work of the Special Commission, helps to underscore that after-school and out-of-school time programs are indeed crucial to ensure that our children and youth have the opportunities they need to become productive and contributing citizens of the Commonwealth,” McGee said in a statement released Thursday.As part of the Lights On After School day, which is held on the third Thursday every October, community leaders such as City Council member Paul Crowley and state Rep. Stephen Walsh, D-Lynn, tour the YMCA facility and join parents in sitting in on the activities that their children take part in each year.Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. issued the YMCA a proclamation from the city, and Gov. Deval Patrick officially recognized Thursday as Lights on After School Day statewide.The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that children and youth who participate in quality after school programs perform better in school than their peers who do not, and that children and youth “involved in regular out-of-school activities are 49 percent less likely to have used drugs, 35 percent less likely to have smoked and 37 percent less likely to become teen parents,” according to a press release.The YMCA has recently added a new playground, climbing wall and computer center to the facility, and Buck said students would be taking part in special activities for Lights On After School Day on Thursday.