The role of physical activity/sport in tackling youth disaffection and anti‐social behaviour

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the existing evidence about the impact of sport/physical activity programmes on positive youth development in the context of education. The issue of youth disaffection is topical and a number of authors and policy makers have acknowledged that physical activity/sport may be an effective way of helping to address the problem. As a result, a number of initiatives aimed at re‐engaging disaffected or disadvantaged young people through physical activities have been developed and implemented in schools in the UK. Two such initiatives, the HSBC/Outward Bound project and Youth Sport Trust/BSkyB ‘Living For Sport’ programme, are discussed within this paper, and key findings from the monitoring and evaluation of each initiative are presented. Over a period of three years, more than 7000 pupils have been engaged in these programmes, and complete data sets have been collated for over 50% and 90% of Sky Living For Sport and HSBC/Outward Bound participants respectively. The findings suggest that both of these projects have had a positive impact on the behaviour and attendance of large numbers of pupils, and that engagement in lessons and relationships with both teachers and peers have improved and can be sustained. The findings also demonstrate, however, that impact is highly individualised and context‐specific in many cases, and that positive impact is more likely to be sustained when some or all of the following project features are in place: effective matching of pupil needs with the specific project objectives; locating project activities outside of the ‘normal’ school context; working closely with pupils to choose activities, set targets and review progress; establishing positive relationships between project leaders/supporters (mentors) and pupils; and giving pupils the opportunity to work with and for others.

Keywords:

• physical activity
• youth disaffection
• anti‐social behaviour

Notes

1. The Respect Task Force was established as a cross‐governmental organisation in September 2005, with the aim of tackling anti‐social behaviour and promoting the positive development of community relations (see http://www.respect.gov.uk for more information).

2. The Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (CoPE) is a GCSE equivalent qualification, developed by the educational charity ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network) and has recently been approved as a full qualification by the QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority). The SEAL programme (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) is a DfES curriculum resource that aims to develop the qualities and skills that help promote positive behaviour and effective learning.

3. Further information concerning the HSBC/Outward Bound project can be found at: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/sses/institutes/iys/pages/Research/ResearchInclusion/outwardbound.html

4. Further information concerning the YST/BSkyB ‘Living for Sport’ project can be found at: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/sses/institutes/iys/pages/Research/ResearchInclusion/livingforsport.html

5. In this study, a behavioural referral refers to a situation where a pupil, after receiving a number of warnings for breaches of rules and regulations, is referred to a higher authority within the school for a more significant punishment. No specific criteria for defining behavioural referrals were given by the researchers, and so the identification of referrals was at each school's discretion.

6. A 5 point rating scale was used to record teachers' responses, similar to a Likert scale. The responses in this particular scale were: 1 = very poor; 2 = poor; 3 = average; 4 = good; 5 = very good. Teachers were asked to use these classifications in response to a number of prescribed questions concerning, for example, pupils' behaviour, attendance and self‐esteem.

7. Pupils in the comparison group were matched, by teachers, to include the same range of characteristics they had used to select project pupils; for example low self‐confidence, disruptive behaviour or poor communication skills. The aim was to create a comparison group of 10 pupils that had a similar profile to the project group. This was not an ideal method of creating a comparison group, given that the project group consisted of 30 pupils. However, it was found to be the only workable method given that a) each teacher had complete freedom to select project pupils based on their perception of who would ‘benefit’ from the project in some way and b) teachers simply did not have to time to identify or track an additional group of 30 pupils each year.