Many parents have struggled to keep their kids and teens physically active, but a new study from the University of Alberta shows it may have more to do with an adult's attitude than a child's laziness.
The researchers found that a teacher who ruins a child's experience in gym class can turn them off fitness for good.
The study led by Billy Strean, a professor in the University of Alberta's Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, interviewed 24 adults about their attitudes to fitness and physical activity and sports.
The researchers found that if the subjects had had a rough time in phys. ed. class, they were more likely to carry that negative attitude towards physical activity into adulthood.
The negative experiences they heard about included:
- Being embarrassed or humiliated in front of classmates
- Having a teacher who treated students unfairly
- Having an apathetic teacher with low energy
One study participant wrote: "I am a 51-year-old-woman whose childhood experiences with sports, particularly as handled in school, were so negative that even as I write this my hands are sweating and I feel on the verge of tears. I have never experienced the humiliation nor felt the antipathy toward any other aspect of life as I do toward sports."
The authors of the study, which appears in the journal Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise, say that coaches and teachers need to put an emphasis on fun in kids' sports, and cut down on comparing one student or player to another, verbal abuse, and constantly keeping score.
"What is really essential is that we see the importance of making all these activities fun for kids. Whether it's physical education or in sports, we've got to remember: they're kids," Strean told 麻豆影视.
Strean also found study participants had better experiences from minimally organized activities such as a neighbourhood game of street hockey, compared to the more organized activities.
He suggests adults try not to over-organize sports and allow the children to explore sporting activities on their own, with minimal rules and no scorekeeping.
"It's not that huge a surprise that 70 per cent of kids end up dropping out of sports," he said.
Strean hopes that by raising awareness about how kids early sport experiences cann affect them for life, he will remind those who coach kids' sports will aim to makes sports fun, playful, and filled with positive reinforcement.
