Where are the high schoolers? Dwindling participation in after-school programs

High schoolers are less inclined to attend and persist as members of non-formal education (NFE) organizations, despite the increased options at their disposal. This falloff raises questions as to the relevance of these settings for older youth, especially their developmental needs. Against this backdrop, the current study undertakes to explicate the tension between sixteen to eighteen-year-olds and the structure-cum-rules of NFE programs through the lens of an urban Scout troop in Israel. Above all, the ethnographic data points to three factors that cause youth to dropout of these frameworks: (1) a rigid structure; (2) disempowering relationships with adults; and (3) a profusion of regulations limiting the teens’ autonomy as well as their opportunities to employ discretion and take risks. These insights have led me to the conclusion that the weakening of out-of-school programs’ non-formal attributes and perhaps their excessive professionalization are alienating older youth.