How_Far_Would_You_Agree_with_the_Proposition_That__‘Leisure_Has_No_Influence_on_Youth_Development_and_Active_Citizenship.’

How far would you agree with the proposition that: ‘Leisure has no influence on youth development and active citizenship.’ In this assignment I will be looking at whether “Leisure does or has no influence on youth development and active citizenship”. I will particularly focus on youth development and active citizenship. Furthermore I will also look at other factors such as people’s opinions based around leisure. The term leisure is hard to define in terms of how people perceive the definition. Leisure can sometimes be defined as of which a person is free from those responsibilities or routines which they are required to perform. This is mostly referred to as a person who is freed from paid work at a job. However another definition of leisure could include temporary times in which a person may realised from doing other compulsory, but unpaid duties. This could be child care, home, or personal matters. (Your dictionary). Another definition of leisure as described by sociologist Chris Rojek (2005) is the leisure could be seen as being voluntary behaviour. The definition of youth development can be described as  “A process which prepares young people to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood through a coordinated, progressive series of activities and experiences which help them to become socially, morally, emotionally, physically, and cognitively competent.”(NYDIC) The definition of the term active citizenship is “when certain individuals have certain roles and responsibilities to society and the environment, although those members may not have specific governing roles”. (Wikipedia) http://www.nydic.org/nydic/programming/definition.htm  http://www.yourdictionary.com/dictionary-articles/recreation-leasure-definitions.html I am going to beginning by looking at whether all young people are active citizens in society today. In order for a young person to be an active citizen I believe that they should be assigned a type of role or responsibilities. One of the ways in which the government has tried to encourage active citizenship is through an initiative called the “together we can”. This has basic goals for citizens and public bodies to work together to help society. The initiative also allows for young people to have their say, bring communities together and race equality. However despite there being actions taken to encourage citizenship in young people there seems to be not much evidence which is based that all people are actually active citizens in this process (John Potter) This also links in very well with what Chris Rojek had to say in relation to active citizenship.Rojek talked about the two main factors in which the first had been atomistic individualism. This is when an individual focuses on self sufficiency and takes sovereign to their own judgement. However on the other hand there was romantic organicism which referred to where the individuals contribute to the community collectively. This precisely means that the community makes their own judgment and individuals are subject to that of the laws and norms. Therefore this shows some form of active citizenship despite the society having rights to keep the community and citizens updated and informed about lifestyle changes within society. One of the other factors we have to look at that may have an affect on leisure and personal development is social capital. This is because the social capital is seen as a form of trust based relational networks where in communities, norms are shared. In other terms this shows that relationships in society matter. For example when young people are growing up there is a sense of bonding. This is partly due to individuals being in the same age group and having similar cultures and lifestyles which also could be another factor which forms a young person’s identity. This also signals the growing role of the peer as an influence on young people’s choices. Social capital has a huge influence on young people’s development as it shapes and moulds a young person’s development. This is shown through places like the schools and people like families where trust, norms and networks are originally formed. This is because having trust and norms in society give young people a sense of safety in society. However one objective as stated in the green paper “Every Child Matters” is that though there are services provided to young people, the services may not always meet the individual’s needs. In addition to this young people and parents do not have much say in the services that they would like provided in order to cater around their needs. Therefore by looking at the factor social capital, I would strongly disagree with that statement that leisure has no influence on youth development and active citizenship Factors such as money may also have a big role to play which show an affect on active citizenship in relation to leisure. This is because not all leisure activities are free and as Rojek stated that “leisure is voluntary behaviour”.Despite young people not being able to afford leisure activities it was seen that these young people also have a problem of accessibility. As it was found a study carried out by Joseph L. Mahoney and Hakan Stattin showed that when a young person has low participation in leisure there is a higher risk for the individual committing anti- social behaviour. This prevention of anti social behaviour and financial funding are both integral parts of the governments’ new initiative “Tired of Hanging Around” (Mahoney and Stattin 2000) One of the objectives that were outlined in the initiative was using sport and leisure activities to help prevent anti-social behaviour committed by young people. The initiative also aimed to help out those with different interests by having facilities that can be provided, ranges and varies. In addition to this a lot of funding can be gained from other organisations which therefore would help make leisure activities for young people to be free and more easily accessible for them. Another issue the initiative set out to tackle was stopping anti-social behaviour and allowing more young people to get involved in activities which would be seen as a way of making young people follows the norms in society and making them a part of being an active citizen in society. This just shows how the government is trying to help young people gain access to leisure activities and get them more involved in order for them to become active citizens within society. Therefore I disagree with the statement that leisure has no influence on a youth development and active citizenship. Mahoney and Stattin 2000) (Audit Commission 2009) I will now look at youth work which has a strong link with social capital as well as areas like leisure activities and government. The Youth Matters suggest an increase of more focus on young people should be taken into account through youth clubs. Social capital and good relationships were on hand through services like connexions service. This would enable young people to be able to speak to personal advisors which were friendly, reliable and there to support the individual. This was driven through the proposition of conversation and evolving ideas which had positive outcomes. (Michael Woolcock 2003) The governments are a key role in promoting leisure activities to young people in order for them to be kept off the streets and allow a young person to reflect on the activities carried out so they can apply to this to latter life or even help them gain skills. The governments do this through working with youth work and youth centers. The idea that a young person can reflect upon activities and apply the experiences in everyday life is supported through “John Dewey's Theory on Experience, Reflection, and Learning”. .This is because his theory supported that everyone learns from their experiences and reflection. Therefore through our understanding we become broader and co-ordination helps us to transform our experiences into meaning. He implied that if we are in a forced curriculum where the individual is not active than it has little impact on them. John Dewey also stated in his theory that young people’s mind were unformed and flexible. One of the implications made by John Dewey was that educational environments should be structured to a stage where it allows to guides young people into blending into a larger culture. What he meant by this was that every young person learns from the environment. Therefore in relation to this theory the government who fund youth clubs should carry out projects in which young people are directly involved and have a choice to choose what type of activities they acquire to take part in which will support their development. These activities do not all have to be practical and physical. To be able to have relationships between different peer groups and people can allow to form a social and emotional environment from which allows a young person t be able to give their opinions and values on a subject. This links very well with personal development as well as a higher chance of young people becoming active citizens. Therefore I disagree with the statement that leisure has no influence on youth development as there is strong evidence which states leisure does have an influence on a young person’s development. Another area which I have looked at is informal education. Informal education is “s “the lifelong process by which every individual acquires and accumulates knowledge, skills, attitudes and insights from daily experiences and exposure to the environment. Generally it is unorganised, unsystematic and even unintentional at times, yet it accounts for the greater bulk of any person’s lifetime learning” (Coombes and Ahmed 1974).This type of education is different from the type you would normally get at schools and college which is formal. According to the green paper “youth matters” informal education was seen as a positive outlook. This is because young people are able to learn through activities where they are assorted with young people from different backgrounds, cultures and life experiences. (Youth Matters 2005) Therefore I disagree with the statement that leisure has no influence on youth development. http://www.schome.ac.uk/wiki/Informal_education In conclusion to this I have found that all the evidence I have looked at all suggests that I disagree with the proposition that “leisure has no influence on youth development and active citizenship”. As strong evidence has suggested how leisure plays a major part in youth development through reflections and experience as stated in John Dewey’s theory. As well as this I have come to the conclusion that both youth development and active citizenship can be achieved through leisure with the help of factors such as finance, activities being available to young people and through social capital.