THE L ATCHKID PROJECT
THE L ATCHKID PROJECT
WE CANNOT ALWAYS BUILD THE FUTURE FOR OUR YOUTH, BUT WE CAN BUILD OUR YOUTH FOR THE FUTURE. Fr a nk l i n D. Ro o sev el t
MFA THESIS What is a thesis? The purpose of the MFA thesis is to become an observer of society and find a social problem to solve using graphic design. I’ve been hearing a lot about the problem that kids around 9-12 come home alone after school and parents do not know what they are doing during those hours. By doing a massive amount of research and having conversations with the appropriate people, I found that many people used to be latchkey kids and see it as a normal social phenomenon.
1
THE ISSUE Background Why this topic
2
RESEARCH Fact Insight Interview Survey
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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EXPLORATION Brand development App development
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THE SOLUTION The LatchKid app The LatchKid Site
1
THE ISSUE Background Why this topic
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THE TERM ‘LATCHKEY’ CONJURES UP IMAGES OF CHILDREN GOING HOME ALONE WITH A HOUSE KEY ON A CHAIN AROUND THEIR NECKS.
BACKGROUND What does “Latchkey” means A latchkey kid or latchkey child is a child who returns from school to an empty home because his or her parent or parents are away at work, or a child who is often left at home with little parental supervision. The term refers to the latchkey of a door to a house. The key is often strung around the child’s neck or left hidden under a mat (or some other object) at the rear door to the property. The effects of being a latchkey child differ with age. Latchkey situations are a growing phenomenon globally and are becoming a worldwide concern.
MIAONAN LI
MFA THESIS
History of the term The term is claimed to have originated from an NBC documentary in 1944, due to the phenomenon of children being left home alone becoming common during and after World War II, when one parent would be enlisted into the armed forces, so the other would have to get a job. In general, the term latchkey designates those children between the ages of eight and thirteen who care for themselves after the school day until their parents or guardians return home. The term ‘latchkey’ conjures up images of children going home alone with a house key on a chain around their necks. Usually the phenomenon raises concern for the wellbeing of these children, especially those in unsafe environments, where they can engage in risky behavior. More specifically for their purposes, the San Marino (CA) Public Library has defined a Library Latchkey Child as “one who on a regular basis is required by their parents or guardian to remain at the public library for extended periods of time after school in lieu of day care. ‘Regular basis’ is defined as three or more days per week. ‘Extended period’ is defined as two or more hours per day” (American Library Association 12).
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MFA THESIS
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MY LATCHKEY EXPERIENCE WAS GOOD AND BECAUSE OF THAT I BECAME A MORE INDEPENDENT PERSON.
WHY THIS TOPIC Because I used to be one I used to be a latchkey kid and my parents were busy with their work while I was about 10 years old. It was a good experience because in those home-alone hours I learned how to make a simple meal for myself and helped to clean the house. My parents felt proud of me but they also worried because back in those years, smartphones didn’t exist and they couldn’t reach me instantly. Sometimes my grandma would come and took after me but for most of the time I was alone at home. I read a lot when I was alone. I remember my mom used to buy me color pencils and I could draw all day long with them. At age 12 I was able to make a simple for myself and my mom felt so happy when she knew. And I got gifts for staying home and clean up the house. When I look back, it seems that my latchkey experience was good and because of that I became a more independent person.
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RESEARCH Fact Ta r g e t a u d i e n c e Insight Interviews
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MFA THESIS
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MFA THESIS
33%
7 hrs
27%
-61%
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REASONS MAY VARY BASED ON DIFFERENT CULTURE BACKGROUND.
1
2
FACT
3
4
The reasons behind
1 . Ac cording to th e U. S. ce nsus , on e thi rd of al l sch ool age ch il dre n in the Un ited States are Latch key k ids . 2. One-h al f of al l ch il dren in the co u ntr y age 12 to 15 are h ome a lon e an average of 7 h ours a week. 3. 27 % of middl e sch ool -aged chi ldren l iving with th eir moth er were i n sel f-care for some time d u ri n g a typical we e k. 4. Fro m 2009-2013, th e rate o f chi ldren go to ch il d care center s ha s d ro pp ed 61%.
Family structures and dynamics have changed during the latter half of the 20th century in western. In most countries the growing number of latchkey children is the result of changes in the economy, family structures, social conditions, labour force, and other factors. Since most school days run from 8 A.M. to 3 P.M., working parents often need to find day care, after-school care, and transportation for their children. But I found that many after-school programs are shutting down because of the budget cuts in education and other public benefits. Angering working parents who say there’s nowhere else for their kids to go. So for some parents, after-school program is not an option. According to the South African Journal of Education written by Elza Venter and Eunice Rambau, the following factors play a role in parents leaving their primary school children alone at home: (i) family income plays a significant role, although it appears that low income is not of importance, because often high income parents leave
MIAONAN LI
MFA THESIS
their children at home alone as well; (ii) full time employed parents or single parents regularly allow their children to spend some time alone at home; (iii) parents with mental health problems often leave their children in self care; and (iv) young children with teenage siblings are often left at home under sibling supervision. Some other reasons include that parents may struggle to get age or culturally appropriate child care or low income parents may not be able to afford additional supervision for their children. After school care options may not be available in the specific community or school. In the end many parents are forced into self-care options. Parents in low income groups are often worried about leaving their children alone in an unsafe environment, but they are forced to do this, because of a lack of alternatives.
MIAONAN LI
MFA THESIS
Existing solutions There is growing evidence that afterschool programs are of special importance to today’s minority youth, providing a “second home” or “intermediary space” that can be critical for their development. But is it really working for every kid? For those kids who join afterschool programs, according to the author of Better Together, middle-income and upper income families seem to be putting together a workable patchwork of afterschool care, lessons, and extracurricular activities that minimized the need for daily structured afterschool programs. Low-income children who are shown most able to benefit from afterschool programs often have the least access to this valuable resource. Recreational resources are often fewer and less appealing in lower-income neighborhoods.
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Are they really working for every kid? For many children, the program fees or equipment needs are beyond their means. Transportation access may also be an issue, and parents may feel that it is not safe to allow their kids to walk or travel to and from the recreation programs that do exist. And lower-income children may be needed at home to take care of younger children or to assist with home chores. Parents, whether married or single, may be working more than one job to remain economically afloat. My thesis will fill the gap by involving latchkey kids to do healthy activities and make their home alone hours more meaningful.
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TARGET AUDIENCE I t ’s a l l a b o u t t h e k i d My target audience is parents age between 35-45 and kids age between 8-13.
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THE ISSUE IS NOT SO MUCH IF SOMEONE IS THERE WHEN A CHILD GETS HOME FROM SCHOOL AS WHETHER SOMEONE IS THERE PSYCHOLOGICALLY FOR THE CHILD. Ja y Bel sk y, Pennsy l v a ni a Sta te Uni v er si ty Hum a n Dev el o p m ent Dep a r tm ent
INSIGHTS The survey I send out my survey through different social media and passed it to many friends. Most of them are parents and young people who had latchkey experience before, and my sister helped me to send this survey to her friends too (most of them have children in middle school), the snowball effect is working well. I got valuable data from the result. And people had leave comments under specific questions which helped me to understand the problem even better. Most people who took my survey are in the age group of 28-40, this made my survey data questionable. I also asked some general questions on Ask.com, people who had latchkey experience and who were just interested in this topic gave me some personal opinions.
MIAONAN LI
MFA THESIS
12 + 10 +
6+
1. When do you think a child is old enough to stay at home?
y es nev er so m eti m es
2. Do you have a latchkey experience?
Parents need to be there psychologically for kids Many people told me that they had latchkey experience, some of them felt lonely but most people didn’t take it very seriously and it was ok for them to be home alone for a few hours. And most of them think kids need to be at least at the age of 12 to stay home alone. The child education expert Jay Belsky used to say, “the issue is not so much if someone is there when a child gets home from school as whether someone is there psychologically for the child”. It’s very important that parents need to be there psychologically for the children, rather than just be in the same room. Parents are feeling guilty about letting their kids stay home alone. They don’t realize that some children don’t suffer from this experience. Some parents even want their kids to take some responsibility earlier in life. And a lot of them are struggling with expensive day-care service. Parents need to be there psychologically for the children, rather than just be in the same room.
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100%
10 0 %
80%
80%
60%
60%
40%
40%
20%
20%
0
0 It wa s ok
It w a s ba d
I e n joy ed sta y a l o ne
3 . H o w ’s t h e e x p e r i e n c e ?
Fi na nc i a l i ssues
Ca n’ t g et h o m e o n ti m e
Si ng l e f a m i l y
4. What reason caused you became a latchkey kid?
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0 Safety
Tr u s t
Le ve l of m a t u r it y
A c ti v i ti es a t home
5. What is the most important thing for a latchkey kid?
Bei ng a b l e to c o nta c t p a rents
Hel p f ul nei g h b o r
A l a tc h key f r i end
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INITIALLY LATCHKEY KIDS FALL INTO TWO CATEGORIES: THOSE WHO ARE FANTASTICALLY EXCITED ABOUT BEING ALONE WITHOUT SUPERVISION AND THOSE WHO ARE SAD AND LONELY.
INTERVIEWS Every experience is different I interviewed different people from different cultural background, many of them gave me valuable personal opinions and suggestions on how to make this project happen. I selected five participants who inspired me the most from these interviews. While I’m collecting data from these interviews I feel that initially latchkey kids fall into two categories: those who are fantastically excited about being alone without supervision and those who are sad and lonely because they come home to an empty house. Eventually most become accustomed to the routine and wind up being very responsible young adults. They usually do their homework without supervision or prompting and in most cases actually begin some phase of dinner for their parent(s) or other chores. They accelerate their maturing process 10 fold.
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YUE LI INTERNATIONAL STUDENT “ It taught me how to be self sufficient, which was a very good thing for me.”
Have you heard of the term “latchkey kid” before? Not until you mentioned. But it is interesting that after knowing this term I noticed that I had that experience too. How do you describe your experience? For me it’s not a very bad thing, at least I learned how to make myself a simple meal. I think this is a common issue especially in China. Parents have to work all day long to earn money for living and the government is not paying enough attention to the problem so everyone seems just ignoring it. My parents were very busy with their work, I always eat alone, I have to say it was lonely at first but once I got used to it I felt that I can be more independent and have more freedom. I understand my parents’ situation and I wanted to be a good kid. Hoes the experience affect you when you decided to go abroad at a young age? The early latchkey experience made me feel that I had to trust myself and be more independent. My relationship with my parents is good, we communicate a lot on everything. But I have to say that I tend to spend time alone rather than with other people. I feel peaceful and concentrated. Going abroad is not an easy decision. But because I learned to take care of myself at a young age, my parents trusted me so they supported me when I decided to come to the US.
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MFA THESIS
JOEL GILLS A FATHER
How many hours do you spend with your son? I have a job, his mom also has a full-time job. But before he was 10, we never wanted to left him alone at home so at that time, my wife stay home and took care of him. Basically I see him everyday after work (I usually get home by 7pm), but my wife send him to school and pick him up after school. Now he’s 10 years old, he can go to school by himself. We think it’s better to give him a safe but free environment to let him grow up freely. How do you plan his after school hours? I still remember the first day we let him go to school by himself, we were worried but he was very curious. We let him to join after school programs, but recently the school shut it down because of funding issues. So we insist him to go back home straight ahead after school, it’s dangerous to be outside with no parental supervision in his age. Anything you want to know more about how to help latchkey kids grow up healthier? When we facing a problem, we always go to ask our parents (the older generation), sometimes they give us suggestions but that’s not always helpful. When he stay at home alone, I want to know how my kid is doing not only by just calling him, but also maybe visually see him (like a video chat). I want to know if he’s happy, I know some children enjoy caring for themselves and happily accept the added responsibilities. I want to make sure he’s fine with it.
“ As long as I can, I don’t want him to go back home alone. It’s dangerous and he’s just too young. But sometimes I have to. His mom is on a daily job too, we can’t pick him up everyday and that’s why.”
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DAVID BROWN ARCHITECT
“ Economically, incomes are going down and the cost of everything is going up, it’s a real thing in our society right now.”
Do you think latchkey experience is good or bad? I think overall it’s a bad thing. The children are suffering. Like my generation, we have this romanticize view of what our parents did when they were growing up, I’m not living in this dream of what I had when I was a child. What reasons do you think are behind this issue? From an economic stand point, “latchkey kid” is an economic issue, it’s the parents need to make money to support the family. Economically, incomes are going down and the cost of everything is going up, it’s a real thing in our society right now. Maybe government can deal with it, such as after school programs or something like that. And parents should know there’s something out there can help. Any suggestions for them to grow up healthier? There are lots of ways to structure things. For example if you have a group of eight families they all have latchkey kids, maybe there’s way that those families can group together. The alternative is much better, having structure or having interactions with kids in their age, or giving opportunity to have activities that allows them to be kids in a safe environment that isn’t strictly independent. And we also need to ask ourselves is it the time spend more valuable trying to reduce the amount of latchkey kids or make their home-alone hours more meaningful and valuable.
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MFA THESIS
YAFEI WEI THE NEW IMMIGRANT We r e y o u a l a t c h k e y k i d b e f o r e ? No, I grew up with my parents very closely. I have a stay-athome mom. We were very close compare to other kids and their families. My mom would do house work and sometimes teach me how to do it. I had a good friend in my childhood who usually come back home with me after school, we worked on our homework or play a few hours until his parent came to pick him up. I guess he was a latchkey kid. How do you describe your experience? It made me feel secure when I was young and mom were there all day long. I came home after school and she always provided me with juice or snacks. But when I grow up, I sort of feel I need more freedom although my parents are not helicopter parents. Do you think you changed because of this? The early latchkey experience made me feel that I had to trust myself and be more independent. My relationship with my parents is good, we communicate a lot on everything. But I have to say that I tend to spend time alone rather than with other people. I feel peaceful and concentrated. Going abroad is not an easy decision. But because I learned to take care of myself at a young age, my parents trusted me so they supported me when I decided to come to the US.
“ The early latchkey experience made me feel that I had to trust myself and be more independent.�
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JUAN GARCIA A MOTHER
“ Be honest, some after school programs are terrible.”
Do latchkey kids usually come from poor families? The answer depends. I think there should be a big difference between public schools and private schools. Children who go to public schools may be go home alone but they can be more independent. In private schools, since the parents may have enough extra money for childcare, their kids are never alone at home but without parents, they are still lonely. There are so many bad cases about child abusing by evil babysitters. But some say the very poor in America are less likely to leave their children alone at home, or allow them to go home alone, than families who earn twice the poverty income. This is probably because the very poor live in less safe neighborhoods, and have fewer friends or family who can step in, in case of emergency. If he becomes a latchkey kid, Do you prefer him to stay home alone or go to after school programs? Be honest, some after school programs are terrible. When I was little, my nephew had to go there everyday for a few hours and said most times it was horrible even made little plans with his friends to escape. It really depends on how’s the program, sometimes it’s better for him to stay home safe than being exposed to outside dangerous. We will see. Anything you want to know more about how to help latchkey kids grow up healthier? Give them an environment which allows them to be kids. Let them play and have fun, teach them how to take early responsibilities because it is the real experience that make them grow.
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3
EXPLORATION Brand development App development
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AS A DESIGNER, MY JOB IS TO FIND HOW GRAPHIC DESIGN CAN HELP TO SOLVE A PROBLEM.
EXPLORATION It took a while The beginning explorations are much harder than the actual process, when I started to find inspirations for my thesis, I found there were tons of information and could be overwhelming. It was important for me to pick a direction. In the meanwhile, I relied on my target audiences to help guide the design process. I decided to interview some of my direct audience and people within the audience range. It was very helpful to know what parents really need and what were some of the latchkey experience people had from their childhood. From there, I picked a clear direction and dived into it. From my research, I found that if latchkey kids’ after school hours can be more fun and meaningful, it will reduce the parental anxiety of leaving their children at home. Based on that thought, I designed the LatchKid app, a mobile app which motivates latchkey kids to be involved in some basic household management activities.
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MFA THESIS
SHIELDED
CONNECTED
STRONG
SUPPORTIVE
POSITIVE
COLORFUL
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RESPONSIBLE
CONFIDENT
RESOURCEFUL
FRIENDLY
INTERACTIVE
MIAONAN LI
Send the list
MFA THESIS
Create a Shopping List
Groceries
Kids can simply choose items from the library which provided by the App or they can type in specific food.
Kids are taking responsibilities of the grocery list, they can let parents know what kind of food do they out of and parents can get them on their way home.
FOR KIDS
Pick Reward
The Point System Kids will get one point for each daily chore they’ve finished. When they reach 20 points for the whole week, they can choose a reward based on their interest.
Solve the Problem
The Sensors Kids will get one point for each daily chore they’ve finished. When they reach 20 points for the whole week, they can choose a reward based on their interest.
Daily Chores and Homework Each day there will be different chores and homework set up for kids, they can be very helpful when they are home alone.
Home Protection By involving kids to household management, they can take some early responsibilities.
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Check Status Parents can check how many task kids have finished and what reward do they want. They can also look into the details on the timeline which records activities.
THE LATCHKID PROJECT
FOR PARENTS
Give Tasks and Set Up Rewards Each family is different. Parents can customize tasks and set up rewards based on real needs on a daily or weekly basis.
Home Maintenance When the sensors detected something wrong, the app will send a quick notification to the parents, so that they can contact their kids immediately to solve the issue.
MIAONAN LI
MFA THESIS
FOR KID
AC T IV E O RA N G E PANT ONE P 4 0 - 7 U
WAR M P IN K
F R E S H LIM E
PANT ONE 1 6 3 U
PA N TO N E 388 U
HEALT H G RE E N PANT ONE 3 5 2 U
LI GH T B E IG E PANT ONE 7 4 9 9 U
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FOR PARENTS
CO O L G RAY PANT ONE G R AY 1 1 U
WA RM G R AY PANT ONE G R AY 4 U
P O W E RF U L Y E L L OW PANT ONE 1 2 2 5 U
D A RK G R EE N PANT ONE 7 4 8 2 U
GROWN-UP PEOPLE DO N KNOW THAT A CHILD CAN G EXCEEDINGL GOOD ADVIC EVEN IN THE
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NOT A GIVE LY CE E MOST
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Brandon Grotesque was designed by Hannes von Döhren, a type designer from Germany. He also created a type foundry called HVD Fonts. Brandon Grotesque was the most successful release at MyFonts in 2010. Brandon Grotesque has a functional look with a warm touch. While the thin and the black weights are great performers in display sizes the light, regular and medium weights are well suited to longer texts. The small x-height and the restrained forms lend it a distinctive elegance.
Serifa was designed by Adrian Frutiger for the Bauer foundry in 1966. The letterforms are based on those of Frutiger’s earlier sans serif design, Univers. Square, unbracketed serifs have been added, making this a slab serif typeface. Serifa has more humanistic forms that are highly readable for both text and display applications such as headlines, captions, or corporate logos.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
BRANDON GROTESQUE REGULAR
SERIFA 45 LIGHT
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
BRANDON GROTESQUE MEDIUM
SERIFA 55 ROMAN
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
BRANDON GROTESQUE BOLD
SERIFA 65 BOLD
4
THE SOLUTION The LatchKid app The LatchKid Site
MIAONAN LI
MFA THESIS
THE LATCHKID APP What it does LatchKid is a reward-based app that motivates latchkey kids to get involved in basic household management and allows parents to watch how their kids are doing when they are away from home. The goal for this app is to make latchkey kids become more confident and independent. They will grow up with the ability to take early responsibilities and help parents to manage home.
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the
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How it works By logging in as a kid, children can choose to do some simple daily chores in order to get points to redeem for gifts. Chores are customized by parents based on their family needs. For instance, under the pet section they get one point for walking the dog, and during the rest of the time they may water the flowers or help do the laundry. Each chore equals one point and parents will get push-up notifications instantly. Whenever they reached 20 points, they can choose the gift they want. Under the grocery section, kids can help update the shopping list. Whether the family is running out of milk, bread or eggs, kids can mark those items on a list and send it to parents so that they can get them on their way back home. Home management is connected to a wireless control center, which indicates windows, doors, water tube and fire alarms. When there is a problem, such as an open door or leaking water, the phone will beep and show a red dot.
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Chores are customized by parents When parents log in, they can check how many points kids have earned and plan to give the gifts. Under tasks and rewards, they can customize options by simply dragging icons to the plus sign. They can setup for each day by choosing the date in the calendar. They can go shopping when the kids send a new shopping list.
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abc
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The icon library The LatchKid app comes with a graphic library, it is a library of precisely prepared icons and symbols, created with an emphasis on simplicity and easy orientation. When parents choose the chores for the day and gifts they can simply drag icons from the library. It is much faster for them to do this instead of typing in what they want except they have a specific thing they want to include. The library is still expending based on feedback from my target audience.
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HOME CONTROL SYSTEM How it works Different from other home control products in the current market, the LatchKid home wireless control system is designed specific for kids. The packages are made from eco-friendly materials and it is connected to the app. Kids can simply keep an eye on everything and let parents know if there’s an issue. There are four sensors designed for common areas in a house. Window/door sensor , water leak sensor and fire sensor are easy to install and remove. One sensor comes in two parts. For instance, for the Window sensor one is installed on the frame head of the window and the other on the window itself. When the window is closed, the two pieces are adjacent to one another. In the event the window has been opened, the magnetic sensors are separated and the app will beep and show a red dot until the kid close that window.
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THE FUTURE PLAN I t i s n o t a r e a l t h i n g . . . Ye t This book contains all the efforts for making the LatchKid app happen. From background research to prototyping I see a huge potential behind my thesis project. And I want to develope it further so that it’s not only an app for latchkey kids. It can be a helpful app for any parent who wants to teach their kids about self-care and let them take some early responsibilities. And because connecting devices in the home to the internet creates all kinds of interesting possibilities, the LatchKid app can also have smart home products which will make home management much easier for kids. Over all since I have a strong connection to my thesis topic because of my personal childhood experience, I want more kids to grow up in a healthy and resourceful environment where they can be stronger. Meanwhile, the relationship between kids and their parents can be tighter too. Thanks for reading this book.
©2015 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PORTION OF THIS PUBLICATION CAN BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION FROM MIAONAN LI.
mfa thesis
THE L ATCHKID PROJECT
designer
MIAONAN LI
phone
5107559086
MIAOLI.DESIGN@GMAIL.COM
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WWW.MIAONANLI.COM
school
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
department
GRAPHIC DESIGN
directors
PHIL HAMLET T, BOB SLOTE, ARIEL GREY
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BRANDON GROTESQUE, SERIFA
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