KIDS FINDING FREE REIN AFTER SCHOOL

Parents' Absence Creates Little Supervision

REDLANDS - After 3 p.m., school's out and nobody's
watching.

Outside the cradle of the schoolyard, away from parents' watchful
eyes and campus discipline the kids are on their own until their
parents come home from work.

When kids fight at school, administrators intervene, says 13-year-old
Tiffany Giuliano-Rodgers. When they fight in the streets, no one is
there to care.

Tiffany is one of the nearly 8 million children in the United States
who are home alone while their parents work, generally between 3 and
6 p.m. A 2001 report by the U.S. Department of Education revealed
that about 8 million school-age children, half of whom are between 5
and 12, are unsupervised after school.

In the wake of recent violence that claimed the lives of two girls,
16 and 11, community focus is centered on keeping kids safe and out
of trouble.

According to a 1999 study by the U.S. Justice and Education
departments, the time when kids are most likely to drink, smoke, take
drugs or engage in sexual behavior is between the hours of 2 and 6
p.m.

Tiffany and her friends agree the time for trouble falls between the
close of school and their parents arriving home.

That is also the most likely time for them to become the victim of a
crime.

On a recent day with Tiffany:

At 3:45 p.m., Tiffany has just come home from school.

She sweeps the back steps and plays with her four dogs before going
inside.

The eighth-grader, a dead ringer for Disney's fun-loving Raven
Symone, stays at home by herself while her mom works. She has a snack
and hangs out in her room, talking on the phone to her friend, Aaron
McCogg, who isn't feeling well.

Her 15-year-old neighbor, Anthony Roque, shows up and the two hug.
Anthony seems protective of her. Together, the two set off to visit
Aaron.

It's dusk on this Wednesday in December as Tiffany and Anthony make
the trek to meet their friends, several blocks from their
neighborhood on Sixth Street.

The pair must cross the busy intersection of Brockton Avenue and
Texas Street, as they head for a neighborhood police say is high in
crime.

Aaron, 14, comes out of his house and joins his friends on the curb.
Soon, Kareshea Wright, 17, stops by. A few others come out and say
hello but don't stick around.

Tiffany gets excited when she sees each of her friends, greeting
everyone joyously, yelling their names and hugging them.

Today, it's only the four of them.

Sometimes the group goes to a park nearby or just hangs out in the
street in front of someone's house. They stand around talking, and
Tiffany and Anthony press for details about a friend of theirs in the
neighborhood who was "jumped" by a group after dark.

The victim, a girl with long, wavy hair, comes out of her house
briefly but goes back inside when her mother calls.

The teens talk openly about how, in the past, they or their friends
have experimented with sex, drugs and smoking after school. They
recall last summer's "pool-hopping" incident jumping into the
swimming pool of a nearby hotel, a mischievous act that led to
appearances in juvenile court, a fine, community service and
probation for breaking the city's 10 p.m. curfew.

They also admit to smoking and "blazing," smoking marijuana in the
park or in each other's back yards. It's easy to mask the odor of
cigarettes with incense, room deodorizer and spray perfume, the kids
say.

Alcohol, however, is much harder to get, and cigarettes are becoming
more expensive.

Cigars, however, are not only cheap, but are easy to
buy.

"You go down to the corner store, and that guy won't sell us beer,"
Tiffany says. "But if you ask for a cigar he asks you what kind you
want."

Blacks & Mild is a popular cigar choice, and even the fruit-flavored
kind such as apple, cinnamon, cherry and kiwi are favorites, the teens say.

At 75 cents per cigar, they are far more affordable and
longer-lasting than a pack of 20 cigarettes that can sell for more
than $4.

"You can smoke it, then stub it out and save it and then smoke it
again later," Anthony said. "It lasts forever. You can't do that with
a cigarette."

Drugs, too, are plentiful and easy to come by, especially if "someone
you know hooks you up."

"You don't even have to ask usually," Tiffany says. "They just
offer."

The others nod in agreement.

"Sharing is caring," Anthony says. "Don't be greedy."

The group laughs.

Kareshea is the eldest. Her serious demeanor makes her seem more
mature than her 17 years.

A teen mom, Kareshea admits that she had sex with her boyfriend after
school while her mother was at work.

She says she can't do anything like she used to, even hanging out
outside with her friends, because her freedom is restricted while she
cares for her child.

"I haven't been outside in so long," she says quietly.

Their freedom ends when the clock strikes 6 p.m.

Once the parents come home, it's all different.

"You have to run home and change your clothes like you've been up in
the house all day," Kareshea says.

Aaron, whose father works at home, said he has a lot of
freedom.

That is, until his mother comes home. That's when he generally starts
his homework or his assigned chores. And once she's there, he's
inside for the night.

"She works long shifts," Aaron says. "I just decide to stay home to
help my mom out.

"But if it's too late, I can't go outside. With my mom, I have to be
in before 9 and do chores like clean up the kitchen or cook dinner."

His mother was upset about the curfew ticket, Aaron says, and doesn't
want him to get another one. She is worried about him getting into
more trouble.

Aaron admits he has friends who are in gangs but says "common sense"
keeps him from choosing that path.

"Why be in a gang honestly what's so cool about being in a gang?" the
14-year-old says. "Just to prove you're somebody? It makes no sense
at all."

Aaron's father, Vincent McCogg, is surprised at some of his son's
exploits and says he will be keeping a closer eye on the teen.

His two sons haven't gone out much in the past month or so because
they were both grounded.

"If there is a problem, we all sit down and talk about it as a
family," McCogg says. "That's family time."

These days, Aaron says he is trying to stay out of trouble, spending
more time in his room with his electric blanket, satellite television
and the Internet.

Aaron's parents were living apart until about a year ago when his
mother moved back in. Before that, kids from the neighborhood were
always in the McCogg's house.

"Everyone would be eating up my food and stealing my games," Aaron
said. "But then everyone stopped coming over because they know how my
mom is."

It's after 6 p.m. and Anthony and Tiffany are heading back home in
the dark. They are talking about how they both learned who their true
friends were, after their brush with the law.

"You find out who your friends are real quick," Anthony says. "You
turn around and your friends ain't there. Your friends will be the
first to flip on you."

Tiffany's mother, Cheryl Giuliano, comes home around 5:30 but soon
leaves for her second job. The pool-hopping incident resulted in a
$57 fine, 20 hours of community service and probation for Tiffany.

"When I come home, I usually touch base with her," Giuliano says. "I
see if she's done her homework or she calls me and checks in."

Giuliano says she isn't surprised to learn of Tiffany's after-school
adventures.

"I knew she would experiment because of certain life choices her
father and I made," Giuliano says. "But I'm trusting that if she
experimented having seen others' choices and where that went that she
would not follow." Tiffany's mother says she is hopeful. By the end
of the year, she hopes her job will start to stabilize and she can
spend more time at home with Tiffany.

The two have begun attending church regularly, too, and Tiffany has a
new goal, to attend cosmetology school. She can't wait to start
Redlands High School next fall because it offers a vocational program
for cosmetology.

"She knows she's got to get her grades up to be in that program,"
Giuliano says. "We're putting together a desk for her now, so she can
do her homework there."

Anthony, whose charm and ready smile make him look like a toothpaste
advertisement, admits he wants some boundaries in his life. Mow that
he lives with his grandparents after a recent stint in the juvenile
court system, he has that now.

He knows his grandparents will not only set rules for him but that
there will be consequences if they are broken basically, he is
risking his freedom.

Although he hates to be disciplined, he says he knows he needs
it.

"I kind of want them to," he says. "If I start slipping and going off
on the wrong way, I kind of do. "My grandpa keeps me in check."

Anthony Roque, 15, and 13-year-old Tiffany Giuliano-Rodgers, say
there are three major signs for parents to watch out for if they
suspect their child is engaging in risky behavior.

Mood swings.

Change in attitude.

Depression.

Tiffany and Anthony also suggested ways for parents to keep lines of
communication open with their children and to keep them safe.

Keep an eye on them.

Watch who they hang out with and where they go, Anthony said. ``Don't
be afraid to walk up to a car and meet the people your kid is going
with,'' he said.

Show some trust.

Don't accuse them of anything without some proof, Tiffany
said.

Be reasonable.

``If you're too strict, it pushes them to rebel,'' Anthony said. ``If
you try to keep your daughter away from her boyfriend, she's going to
find a way to see him, no matter what.''

Talk to them.

``Talk to them about everything,'' Anthony said. ``Find out why they
are doing the things they do. If you are open with them, it will make
a bond that no one can break.''