Safe Space: Local programs provide youth with a place for fun, learning and stress relief after school.

Participants of the B Shop Boys and Girls Club

With the start of the new school year, many working parents are faced with the question of what to do with their teenage children after school.

Whether children are left home alone depends on a number of factors: maturity, comfort, and how well they get along with their siblings. However, this decision is entirely up to the parents, as there is no law in Pennsylvania that specifies the age at which children can be left home alone. Children of this age crave freedom but often require supervision. Fortunately, there are options for parents.

Link 4 Youth in New Cumberland offers an afterschool program for students in fourth through 12th grade from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. When students arrive, “they have that first hour to de-stress,” says Saundra Colello, executive director. The program offers opportunities to release the pent-up energy of a school day – climbing the climbing wall, playing basketball, playing tag around the building or just sitting and relaxing.

The Boys & Girls Club of Harrisburg offers a similar afternoon experience for children with a wider age range of 6 to 18.

“It’s an activity-based program,” said Arnold Taylor, program director and former Harrisburg club participant.

Taylor said that while people often think the club is a school or a daycare center, it is neither.

“Our goal is to give kids the opportunity to come to the Boys & Girls Club, find their niche and help them expand that niche to improve their skills,” he said.

Like The Link 4 Youth, the club aims to keep kids off the streets after school and out of trouble. At the very least, parents don’t want their kids surfing social media or playing video games all afternoon.

“So parents don’t have to worry about where their children are – whether they’re safe, whether they’re okay,” Taylor said.

Link goes one step further in the fight against scrolling on mobile phones and has young people put their mobile phones in a transparent locking box.

“They can see their phones because the lock box is transparent,” Colello said. “So they have the security of ‘my phone is still there,’ but they are not allowed to take their phones out.”

These programs make access easier. Link provides free transportation to schools in the West Shore School District. Boys & Girls Club provides transportation for $25 per week from schools in the Harrisburg School District as well as some private schools. There is no general program fee for The Link 4 Youth. The Boys & Girls Club charges an annual fee of $20, but scholarships are available to cover costs associated with the program.

None of the programs restrict participation to geography.

“If you live in Texas and can come here today, you can,” Taylor laughed.

The B Shop Boys and Girls Club is another, smaller afterschool program that focuses primarily on hands-on learning. Joshua Barker founded the Harrisburg-based nonprofit four years ago. Barker grew up in a rough neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, he said.

“I know how important it is for children to participate in after-school programs that keep them busy and keep them out of trouble,” he said.

Barker, a licensed contractor, has middle and high school students help renovate buildings that will then be used as public housing. The workshop will work on converting an office building into eight apartments.

“My wife and I want to teach the children life skills, one of which is skills and a career,” he said.

Participating young people also receive a small scholarship.

“The reality is that kids want money,” Barker said. “We can’t ignore that fact.”

The shop focuses on the current reality of students as well as their possibilities for the future.

“It’s a safe place where you can learn and gain knowledge and leave with the skills you need,” Barker said. “If you have the skills, you can go anywhere in the world.”

After the kids have had their fun at The Link 4 Youth, they offer a formal program including an on-site garden, speakers, an optional Bible study and other options. The Boys & Girls Club offers tutoring, career preparation, health and wellness and basic life skills. Taylor said students often pursue sports as a career path and the club helps them find Plan “B” and Plan “C.” Many students aren’t aware of all the options available to them, he said.

After-school time can be relaxing, fun and safe for students. For parents who have decided their children need more after-school care, there are free or low-cost programs that make this possible.

“Our motto is to provide a safe, positive place for children,” Taylor said.

Link 4 Youth is located at 1120 Drexel Hills Blvd., New Cumberland. For more information visit www.thelink4youth.org.

Boys & Girls Club of Harrisburg has several locations throughout the city. For more information visit www.bgchbg.org.

For more information about the B Shop Boys and Girls Club, please visit [email protected] or 717-882-7736.

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