Brazilian after-school weekend program lowers youth crime rate by up to 30% in the periphery of Recife, Pernambuco State

Homicides among youth almost double on weekends, as compared to weekdays. The information comes from The Map of Violence published in 2000 jointly by Unesco, Brazil’s Ministry of Justice, and the Ayrton Senna Institute, with data from the Ministry of Health (the Datasus system).

The numbers spoke so loudly they inspired the Open School (Escola Aberta) program that has kept schools in the periphery open Saturdays and Sundays since 2002, busying youths with otherwise little or no access to leisure or cultural activities.

A pilot program was established in the State of Pernambuco, successfully cutting down in up to 30% the number of crimes among youths in the periphery of the State Capital Recife. Encouraging results led the federal government to extend the project to five other states, it now serves over 1,200 schools.

“The average yearly homicide rate for this age group totaled 1,700 for Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, while Sunday deaths added up to 3,200. On first studying this age group’s behavior we found they almost always described their activities over the weekend as “nothing”. Other youths mentioned bars, alcoholic drinks, drugs or robbery,” said Júlio Jacobo Waiselfisz, former UNESCO coordinator in Pernambuco State, now working as an independent consultant. “Time being spent between doing nothing and being involved in violence was next to nothing.”

“Strategic for the prevention of violence”

The Open School program was initially created in 30 state and municipal schools in the metropolitan area of Recife. In 2002 UNESCO released a report that compared 120 schools that enrolled in the program with 120 schools on regular scheduling. Results indicated the program was a great success.

Four years later, now consolidated as public policy, the Open School program has been adopted in Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Campo Grande, Boa Vista and at the Federal District, with 98 million Reals of allocated funding guaranteed until 2008. The project should be adopted in Argentina and Peru in the coming months.

“The Open School program is no longer an isolated occurrence, it is part and parcel of the school’s own political and educational project, having become strategic for the prevention of violence,” said Valéria Fernandes, Pernambuco State’s Secretary of Education.

“I learned not to loaf around”

Director of Conselheiro Samuel Mac Dowell School, located in Recife’s metropolitan area, Cláudio Martins said that students now value on their schools more.

“Students today are more conscious of their responsibilities,” said Martins.

In school, young people have dance classes, hip-hop, and free access to the Internet. Parents are also invited to take part in the activities.

“I used to hang around on the streets, and I have no idea where I would have ended up if it weren’t for the Open School program. My life changed, I learned not to loaf around,” said Bruno Gomes, 16, who admits that weekend activities means distancing himself from drugs.

Sources: O Globo, Unesco, Rits, Adital

Read Further: The Open School project has been noted in the issue “Language as violence, violence as Language?” of Takingitglobal, a Canadian online magazine devoted to connecting youths around the world on the Internet.