Scratching for Success

There are a staggering 15 million school-aged children in America who return to an empty house after school on any given day. Consider the positive benefits these children would derive from participating in an after-school activity in their own community specifically designed to engage their minds, their senses, and their emotions, while at the same time being outrageously fun! Studies show that 8 to 18-year-olds in this country spend an average of 2.4 hours a day listening to popular music, with that figure increasing to nearly 3.5 hours a day among “at-risk” groups. Often, these children and teens cannot delineate the elements of fantasy embedded in popular music from the reality of socially accepted behavioral norms. This leads, in many cases, to negative attitudes and habits, uncontrolled emotions, and self-destructive behaviors.