Riding the Waves of Change: How Surf Therapy and Similar Programs Can Help Turn the Tide on Child Poverty
Picture via Waves For Change.
From 1997 to 2020, the United States saw a 437% increase in the cost of welfare, growing its spending from $147 billion to $791 billion. Yet, for decades, our poverty figures have remained stagnant: 13.2% of the population in 1997, 12.3% a decade later, and 11.5% in 2020. With the ever-growing costs of welfare programs in the United States, policymakers and advocates continue to ask the question: Is there a successful and cost-effective way to address this growing problem? Well, for this community in Peru, the answer is an unconventional activity: surfing.
Peru’s surf schools are a new wave of community-based projects using the benefits of physical exercise to serve disadvantaged youth. Alto Peru, founded by 41-year-old Villarán, draws its namesake from its community and serves one of the country’s most dangerous and low-income neighborhoods. And it's working. Surf therapy projects have been shown to improve children’s mental health, promote future physical activity, and bring communities together.
Similar projects in Sierra Leone, California, and Trinidad advocate for mental health treatment for young people. Research in South Africa found surf therapy “an efficacious, trauma-informed intervention for violence-exposed children and youth” and emphasizes the importance of physical activity within at-risk communities
Organizations like Waves of Change want to expand these models to communities worldwide. Through their project, Waves Alliance, they hope to provide training for free and ignite community leaders to take charge in learning coping mechanisms specific to their community. For many coastal communities, surf therapy is an innovative opportunity to address a historically ignored issue, backed by research and thousands’ personal experiences.
While surf therapy isn’t logistically possible everywhere, surf therapy’s success sheds light on important shortfalls in our existing mental health and welfare programs. The United States relies on a “cash-based” welfare program. Through programs like the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), families receive a set of cash welfare payments for children who have been deprived of parental support. While welfare payments are an essential factor in supporting at-risk children’s long-term education and well-being, funding for TANF has been declining since the 1990s, and these one-size-fits-all payments do nothing to address mental health concerns or change community culture.
Supporting community-based projects, such as Surf therapy, can fill these gaps. A 2022 study examined the long-term effects of community-based youth development projects for youth living in extreme poverty. They found that alums were more likely to be in excellent health, attend college, and have savings at the end of each month than those who did not participate in such programs. This is crucial for Black and Latinx communities in the United States, which stand with poverty rates of 17.1% and 16.8%, respectively. Youth intervention projects do not just provide mental health support for children. They also help create a sense of community, significantly improving their success in the future.
Helping underserved communities does not have a one-page solution. Welfare is essential but has not been enough to significantly decrease US poverty rates in the past two decades. We need a multifaceted approach beyond welfare alone. Neighborhood leaders, better access to mental health, and community-driven initiatives must all play a part in securing a better future for families. Only then will we finally be able to turn the tide in our fight against child poverty.