Robert Torricelli: “A few weeks ago we adopted the Boxer amendment to authorize $2 billion for afterschool programs, but under the current…”

“A few weeks ago we adopted the Boxer amendment to authorize $2 billion for afterschool programs, but under the current bill States can opt out of providing afterschool care for those who need it. This is not something on which people should opt out, not recognize the problem. It is not a local problem; it is a national problem. There is not a study I have ever seen where it is not clear that not only is this the source of juvenile violence, it is the principal time of the day and the time in life when young people experiment with narcotics. It is a principal reason and a problem for teenage pregnancy. Many things in America change. Some do not. Young people without supervision and time on their hands are mischievous, are led to temptations and wrong influences. This, I say to my colleagues, is an opportunity to address the problem, and the evidence could not be more overwhelming. A national study of five housing projects with afterschool programs and five without shows us the difference. Those without had 50 percent more vandalism and 30 percent more drug activity than those with afterschool programs.”