Running head: OUT-OF-SCHOOL-TIME ACTIVITIES AND THEIR EFFECT ON
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
1
Out-of-School-Time Activities and Their Effect on Youth Development
Shea Blanchard
PSY 200
Dr. J
April 15, 2013
This paper is written to satisfy requirements for Dr. Franco-Zamudio’s social psychology
class. It is a short glimpse into the research and reasoning behind the development of
children and the activities that influence it. It explains multiple out-of-school-time
activities and the benefits and consequences that lie within each of them. It also gives
advice to children and parents who wish to have a fulfilled and healthy youth and
adulthood.
Running head: OUT-OF-SCHOOL-TIME ACTIVITIES AND THEIR EFFECT ON
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
2
Out-of-School-Time Activities: Their Effect on Youth Development
The development of children all over the world is influenced by many different
factors. There are several aspects of a child’s life that can contribute to the way a child
develops and the adult that they will mature into. One of the most common contributing
factors to their development is a child’s involvement in organized activities, especially
outside of school. Organized activities greatly impact children and promote a positive
youth development (PYD) (Fay, Li, Phelps, & Lerner, 2009). The most effective types of
activities that children are a part of are out-of-school-time (OST) activities (Smith, &
Smoll, 1997). The youth are exposed to various groups and relationships within their
organized activities. There are many different groups or organizations that children may
