Positive Impact of Kids Up Front on our Communities
“There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.”
Graham Greene
Nourishment of the Spirit
Childhood and adolescence are important periods in our lives from a variety of developmental perspectives: physical, emotional and cognitive.
It is during this time we establish our value systems, learn to engage with others and develop self-esteem. Research has shown that children
from economically disadvantaged families and/or families facing chronic challenges such as illness, often suffer on many developmental fronts. Without financial resources to participate in activities enjoyed by their peers, they become isolated. Compounding factors (low education levels of parents, immigrant/non-English speaking parents) further marginalize the children until, as adults, they find themselves in the same cycle of poverty they experienced as children.
While Kids Up Front’s primary focus is to provide kids with access to entertainment and educational opportunities, our intent is to have a deeper level impact. The agencies we partner with provide the basic essentials of life – typically identified as minimum levels of food, clothing and shelter, but in addition, we provide the often – neglected nourishment of the spirit, another crucial element for healthy development. As expressed in an article entitled Income and Child Well-being: A new perspective on the poverty debate, “…if producing healthy children was the central objective of anti-poverty efforts…it would mean that far more would have to be taken into consideration beyond simply providing the basic necessities of life…” (1).
Build Mutual Aid Self-Help Groups & Resiliency
By providing children who normally don’t have access to leisure time activities and family outings, Kids Up Front creates positive social
experiences. According to the Canadian Council on Social Development, “children’s involvement in cultural and recreational activities can protect them from environment and social problems.” (2) The experiences we provide assist in the development of resiliency which, in turn, helps protect youth from risk, as well as helps aid in the determination of how to increase the competencies that adolescents need for the transition to adulthood.
Experiences that once were considered unattainable, suddenly offer positive social interaction and an opportunity to break down barriers. Research has demonstrated that “young people’s self-perceptions, value, and skills are influenced by their relationships and the contextual constraints or opportunities available to them.” (3)
Current theory suggests that a necessary component of a healthy transition to adulthood is the inclusion of “positive social interaction with peers and adults.” (4) Shared positive experiences with families and peers provide the opportunity for mutual aid self-help groups, which in turn builds resilience and positive role modelling.
Family Bonding
Research supports that shared family experiences enhance communication, and aid in bonding and cohesion among family members. In an article entitled: Purposive Leisure: Examining Parental Discourses on Family Activities, family leisure is seen to be “a vehicle that encouraged positive interaction between family members, both between siblings and between parents and children. The more relaxed and generally enjoyable setting of leisure, compared with obligatory activities such as household chores, was seen to facilitate positive interaction.” (5)
The words of a child ticket recipient express this sentiment best:
Dear Vancouver Giants,
My name is Luke and I want to thank you for giving me and my famaly tikets to the game and I really enjoyed it. It cleared my mind of all the homework and chores.
Sense of Belonging
Kids Up Front creates, sometimes for the first time, a chance for the children to feel a sense of belonging to their community. This feeling
of connection helps strengthen community. Research has shown that participation in constructive leisure activities facilitates positive development and pro-social behaviour (pro-social behaviour being characterized by attitudes and behaviours conducive to helping others such as caring, kindness, and altruistic behaviour). (6)
The end result is the initial individual investment has larger community-based outcomes as the resulting desired individual behaviour and positive shared value-system in turn helps support and strengthen the wider-based community.
The sense of inclusion helps families cope. A parent wishing to express gratitude to Kids Up Front for the opportunities received writes:
We would like to thank you again and look forward to our next outing as a “normal” family.
By showing the kids that someone cares, we help heal children, bond families and unite communities.
Glossary
Ross, David P. & Roberts, P. Income and Child Well-being: A new perspective on the poverty debate. Canadian Council on Social Development. www.ccsd.ca/pubs/inckids/intro.htm
Ross, David P. & Roberts, P. Income and Child Well-being: A new perspective on the poverty debate. Canadian Council on Social Development. www.ccsd.ca/pubs/inckids/intro.htm
Morrisey, K. M. & Werner-Wilson, R.J. (2005). The relationship
between out-of-school activities and positive youth development: An investigation
of the influences of communities and family. Adolescence, Vol.
40, No. 157, Spring 2005, 68.
Morrisey, K. M. & Werner-Wilson, R.J. (2005). The relationship between
out-of-school activities and positive youth development: An investigation
of the influences of communities and family. Adolescence, Vol.
40, No. 157, Spring 2005, 70.
Shaw, S.M. & Dawson, D. (2001). Purposive Leisure: Examining Parental
Discourses on Family Activities. Leisure Sciences. 23: 223.
Morrisey, K. M. & Werner-Wilson, R.J. (2005). The relationship between
out-of-school activities and positive youth development: An investigation
of the influences of communities and family. Adolescence, Vol.
40, No. 157, Spring 2005, 68.
