The Most Dangerous Hour In America

(And Houston Is No Exception)

 
It has been well documented that “the most segregated hour” in America is 11am on Sunday morning; however, it is equally well documented but not as often emphasized, that “the most dangerous hour in America is 3pm” – Monday through Friday.  At 3pm the school day ends and low supervision, resulting in chaos, begins.  Fight Crime:Invest in Kids reports that sixty-nine percent (69%) of the nation’s Police Chiefs and Sheriffs surveyed stated unequivocally that the most effective strategy for reducing youth violence and juvenile crime is a well rounded and operated After-School Program.  It is farrrrrrrrrrrrr more effective, they say, than hiring more police officers, building more Detention Centers or installing metal detectors in schools. A recent poll conducted by Sun Coast After-School Alliance states that 90% of working mothers fear most for their child’s safety after 3pm.
At age 19 to 21 I worked as a Training Manager for The Stop N Go Convenient Stores to earn tuition while attending Houston Baptist University. My job was to train all 3rd shift store attendants (11pm-7am) for the North Side Region and to record the initial details of all robberies reported by the Store Operators (23% of all stores were robbed each week and I was robbed twice and vandalized 7 times).  The Police often warned me then that the most dangerous hours were from 2AM to 5AM and exhorted me to be extra careful.  Now that I have marched toward chronological maturity, I beg to disagree with their assessment.  In the inner city more damage occurs in broad daylight than in the mystical dawn.  If more families were proactively served at 3pm, it would mitigate the crime at 2am. Detailed studies from the U.S. Health and Human Services, Criminal Justice Departments in Universities, Law Enforcement, Community Groups and Faith-Based Organizations all conclude that that 3pm is Prime Time for Juvenile Crime.

The Forge For Families (FFF) exists to do its finest work at “the most dangerous hour, 3pm,” providing the critical social and spiritual infrastructure necessary to empower under-resourced families, especially single parent families. During “the most dangerous hour” and the loooooooooong Summer days, the FFF staff of 12 urban missionaries offer high supervision and personal touch. We operate structured programs promoting Judeo-Christian values such as team sports, after-school academics/recreation, adult life-skills, the arts, summer entrepreneurial & leadership training, parental and personal counseling as well as positive role models, spiritual development, a safe atmosphere, opportunity and hope.  In addition, we rent two 3 bedroom apartments and own a home in our target community. The separate apartments house our two male and two female college staff members and the house we own is home for two of our 3 Founders, so that together they can provide three places for weekend retreats, a healthy home environment, a safe refuge and advanced mentoring to student members of the Forge.  FFF also provides After-Work Programs for Adults.    Two generations ago, America was a nation comprised largely of two parent families with full or part-time homemakers (1900 US Census).  Today our nation has more single parent families and divorcees than at any other time in our history (2000 Census).  Less than 10% of mothers stay home full or part-time during the formative years of their children.  This is devastatingly true among Black Americans (66% of homes are headed by single parents, mostly women), Latinos (50% single parents), and even two-income families.  Like we saw in the popular movie, children are too often left Home Alone. In fact, the Urban Institute reports that 15 million elementary and middle school children go home to an empty house or apartment EVERY afternoon. The Third Ward Urban Redevelopment Plan shows that less than 25% of 3rd Ward students are enrolled in a well rounded After-School Program.  However most programs are unimaginative focusing little more than on extended child-care and fewer than 10% of programs offer a holistic and spiritual dimension.

Between the hours of 3-6:30pm, the lethal combination of no supervision, raging hormones, God-given curiosity, a sinful nature, negative media, unsafe parks, idle time and too few choices of wholesome activity – equal DANGER!  This lethal combination has bred and birthed pre-mature sexual experimentation, drug infestation, disproportionate teen pregnancies, unacceptable abortions, high drop-out rates, low employment, gang attraction, early incarceration, poor nutritional habits, lost opportunities and hopelessness. Equally as dangerous as 3-6:30pm Monday through Friday are the looooong Summer days and the less supervised weekends.  I don’t know about you, but I can certainly remember walking down some errant roads and making bad choices during these unguarded hours.  Some of the consequences still affect me today.

In antiquity, a day was twelve hours long, 6am to 6pm; but the discovery of electricity and artificial light has extended daylight activeness to 16 hours, from 6am-10pm.  That means children spend as many waking hours after-school as they do during school.  The Organization Fight Crime:Invest In Kids has researched that children are 3xs more likely to become victims of crime between the hours of 3-6:30pm BUT 3xs less likely to develop destructive life habits IF they are enrolled in programs after school.  This is especially true when the After-School Program is not simply an extension of the regular school day but specializes in an array of academic and recreational activities and is located OFF SITE.
Picture the FFF as a divine 2nd shift standing in the gap with fresh reinforcements and readiness for the 2nd half of the day, the Weekend and the looooooong Summer days. During the national crisis of World War II, industrial plants modified the 8-5pm shift by working overtime producing military goods to protect and sustain our country. By extension, the unsatisfactory state of America’s families is endemic and we are suffering NO LESS a national and spiritual crisis than we did during WWII!  Noble organizations that work 8-3pm are not enough!  The Texas Education Association records that HISD enrolls 142,000 elementary and middle school students, employs 12,600 teachers and deploys 261 Principals, but it is not enough. They cannot do the job alone.  We need a fresh supply line of equipped 2nd Shift After-School professionals and soldiers equally as competent, compassionate and committed as 1st shift Public/Private School professionals to reverse this destructive trend. If philanthropists and taxpayers only focus and fund Public & Private Schools and continue to undervalue and underfund (including with their time and talent) the After-School Hours, the looooooong Summer days and Weekend, we will increase our casualties and lose the war that is decimating our most vulnerable families to “the most dangerous hour in America – 3pm.  You can be apart of the solution today. Please visit our website to contribute and volunteer.  If not now, when?  If not you, who?


Pastor Rufus Smith, IV – Founder/CEO Forge For Families