Re‐engaging disaffected youth through physical activity programmes

Abstract

It is a cherished belief within physical education and sport communities that participation in sport/physical activity has the potential to offer young people a range of physical, psychological and social benefits. More recently in the UK, this belief has become prominent in government policies that, among other things, are seeking to re‐engage disaffected young people in order to increase their life chances and minimise the impact of anti‐social behaviours upon others. Yet, the link between physical activity interventions and developing pro‐social behaviours is not straightforward, and there is a lack of credible research evidence to support many of the claims made for physical activity to or to inform decisions about effective intervention design. This paper reviews key literature, focusing particularly on disaffected young people and physical activity interventions in the school context, and identifies six key issues that, we would argue, warrant consideration when planning physical activity programmes to re‐engage disaffected young people. In particular, it is argued that the unprecedented levels of public and private funding available for physical activity related programmes in the UK, and the high expectations placed upon them to deliver specific measurable outcomes, mean that the need for credible monitoring and evaluation is pressing.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge that this article forms part of three research projects currently being undertaken by the Institute of Youth Sport at Loughborough University: evaluations of the Youth Sport Trust/BSkyB ‘Living for Sport’ project, the HSBC Education Trust physical activity programmes, and the New Opportunities for PE and Sport programme (NOPES). The authors are grateful for the support of these bodies, and for their continued interest in the evaluation research.

Notes

1. Clare (2003) has cited Office for Standards in Education inspectors as claiming that many young people are effectively ‘disappearing’ from the education system during years 10 and 11 of secondary school (age 15/16 years). These are the last two years of their compulsory education, and represent the period during which they study for and take their General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations. It has been argued that approximately 10,000 are simply receiving no education at all, while another 30,000 leave with no GCSEs and 40,000 fail to achieve 5 GCSEs even at grade G. It was felt that this was due to a failure of schools to provide a meaningful, relevant and engaging curriculum.

2. There has been a growing trend in recent years, certainly within the UK, for corporate organisations to invest both time and money in youth physical activity initiatives as part of their corporate social responsibility programmes. These can be seen, in part, to reflect wider social concerns over the state and status of young people within contemporary society, and are often aimed at re‐engaging disaffected or disadvantaged young people, facilitating personal and social development, and cultivating positive multi‐agency partnerships within communities. Examples of this within the UK are the Youth Sport Trust/BSkyB ‘Living for Sport Project’, HSBC/Outward Bound Partnership Project, and HSBC Education Trust physical activity programmes.

3. Further information on the projects and their evaluations is available from the Youth Sport Trust (for the ‘Living for Sport’ project only) and Institute of Youth Sport websites: www.youthsporttrust.org; www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/sses/institutes/iys