Hi, friend! Following my previous question, I am trying to design an afterschool program for teenagers, and I found out that it is only when your courses are structured activities, they may take effect on reducing youth conduct crime. Is it real?

True.

Oh. That makes sense.

According to Osgood and colleagues, afterschool programs will only reduce delinquency if they provide structured, supervised activities to youth who would otherwise be unsupervised and engaging in risky behaviors. A study conducted by Rorie, Gottfredson, Cross, Wilson, & Connell (2011) on the impact of structure in after-school programs found that during unstructured time problem behaviors increased. Other studies found evidence that recreation centers with poorly structured activities attract youth with both social and academic problems and that frequent participation at the centers connects to high rates of juvenile offending (Mahoney, Stattin, & Magusson, 2001; Mahoney, Stattin, & Lord, 2004). Therefore, available research suggests that activities lacking structure and opportunities for skill-building attract high-risk adolescents and provide youth an opportunity to commit delinquent acts.