LEISURE ACTIVITIES IN THE STUDENTS' VIEW IN 2024

Headnote

ABSTRACT:

THE SPHERE OF LEISURE TIME HAS BEEN DISTINGUISHED BY THE DYNAMISM OF ITS EVOLUTION IN THE RECENT PERIOD, REVEALING AN INCREASE IN THE OFFERS FOR PRACTICING PHYSICAL AND SPORTS ACTIVITIES.

STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IS AN ISSUE OF GREAT IMPORTANCE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH, AND THE BENEFITS OF ADOPTING AN ACTIVE LIFESTYLE IN TERMS OF PHYSICAL WELL-BEING AND HEALTH HAVE RECEIVED PARTICULAR ATTENTION IN RECENT YEARS THROUGHOUT EUROPE AND MOST OF THE REST OF THE WORLD. PHYSICAL INACTIVITY IS FREQUENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE RISK OF CHRONIC DISEASES AND PREMATURE MORTALITY, AS WELL AS OTHER SERIOUS DISEASES.

THE QUESTIONS FROM WHICH I STARTED IN THIS PAPER ARE WHAT STUDENTS DO IN THEIR FREE TIME AND HOW MUCH OF THIS TIME IS DEDICATED TO PRACTICING PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND SPORTS.

WE ALSO WANTED TO FIND OUT WHAT SPORTS THEY PRACTICE AND HOW MUCH THEY ARE AWARE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF MOVEMENT ON HEALTH.

KEY WORDS: LEISURE SPORTS ACTIVITIES; SELF-ESTEEM AND BODY IMAGE; HEALTHISM; HEALTH STATUS.

INTRODUCTION

Free time is made up of all those activities that a person has voluntarily chosen and that he can distribute at will. There is no time set aside to enjoy them, but it will depend on the temporary space you have after you finish your work and the tasks related to the house. In addition, the tasks can be chosen on your own, as they will depend on the tastes and hobbies you have.

For example: reading, going to the movies, dancing, taking cooking classes, doing sports activities, spending time collaborating in solidarity activities. Each person decides what they want to develop in that moment dedicated to recreational activities and that allows a time of pleasure and peace, as well as disconnection from all those activities that take place during the day.

The archaeological evidence for the widespread practice of board games is represented by the large number of discoveries of dice made of various materials (especially bone), ceramic and bone tokens, respectively game tiles, often improvised from tiles on which the related markings were applied before burning.

These joint activities also had the role of facilitating the aggregation of these small subunits, encouraging the development of the spirit of camaraderie and thus increasing their effectiveness on the battlefield. A particularly interesting case was discovered in the camp of Porolissum (Moigrad, Sălaj).

MAIN TEXT

In free time, we talk about recreation, seen by some specialists, who study the phenomenon of free time, as synonymous with it. Kelly (2009) emphasizes that recreation refers to the activity that takes place during someone's discretionary time or free time and not the period itself. Free time as a recreational investment refers to the different resources allocated to achieve a generalized state of well-being, being a viable source of solutions for health, recovery, life. Of these resources, time, financial resources, but also educational resources are mainly invested [1].

Being an essential value for the individual and society, physical education is part of the sphere of physical culture. It is the motor activity with the most important social impact (in terms of number of subjects, age range and institutionalized forms of organization). Physical education is also a way of transmitting, from one generation to another, the elements of a culture, the values, the positive experience, the attitudes and beliefs it creates.

Physical education makes a connection between being and becoming, in a balanced transition, which favors the full expression of the motor, mental and social potential of the subject.

It is evident in the twenty-first century, when it becomes a large-scale phenomenon, assimilated by the great mass through forms such as preventive medicine, diets, meditations, sports practiced to maintain a good physical condition. The health public is made up of a diffuse mass from the point of view of social status [2].

A large part of the phenomena that have to do with the new consciousness of health in the risk society, with the placing of responsibility in the sphere of individual choices when talking about health or consumption, can be explained in terms of an ideology of functional consumerism in the new globalized capitalist system [3]. The spread of health concepts, their massive promotion through the media, has as a consequence an increasing concern of the population for the adoption of a healthy lifestyle.

The general objective of the research is to outline the students' interest in sports activities in their free time and other ways of spending this time (represented by participation in sports and cultural events, hiking, reading, virtual socialization, computer games, watching TV programs, etc.) [4].

The specific objectives were to nominate the sports with the highest share in the students' preferences by gender categories, both those practiced and those they would like to practice; the motivations and conditions that influence the students' participation in this type of activities, in their free time; the personal, social and cultural factors that explain these preferences and hierarchies; the influence of the frequency of practicing sports activities on the level of self-esteem and body image, the nomination of the sports with the highest weight in the students' preferences, both those practiced and those they would like to practice [5].

In the first part of the qualitative research, we conducted two focus groups, with firstand second-year students, between April and May 2024. The first focus group was made up of 10 students, and the second of 7 students.

The selection of subjects was made based on two criteria, namely, the criterion of homogeneity (students, boys and girls, from the first and second year, from different specializations: sociology, social work, human resources and anthropology) in order to focus, simplify and reduce and the criterion of convenience to save time and costs. The questions broadly followed the same topics as those dealt with in the quantitative investigation: the amount of free time available to the students; adjacent, what he does during a working day and on weekends; interest in leisure sports activities; preferences for certain sports among students, sports they practice; adjacent, what are the sports they would like to practice; awareness of the influence of physical activities on health and self-esteem.

There is a significant difference between the sexes in terms of leisure options. This hypothesis was tested with the help of the factors identified above [6]. The results show that women go out significantly more often than men to shop for pleasure and watch TV programs. Therefore, the hypothesis stated is only partially supported by empirical data.

Statistical data show that for girls, the health goal prevails, which is in line with our expectations, and for boys, the goals of achieving performance and participation in competitions prevail. As a result of these results, it can be said that the playful spirit is more manifest in boys compared to girls.

The third purpose, the social purpose, is slightly more important for boys than for girls, but the difference is not significant. In the end, we can conclude that the hypothesis is supported by empirical data.

Differences in the appreciation of the importance of certain aspects of practicing sport depending on the profile of the faculty at which they study [8]

There are differences in the appreciation of the importance of certain aspects of practicing sports depending on the profile of the faculty at which they study. Figure 4 shows that students of physical education and sport appreciate the practice of sport as important for all three factors: health, competition, social.

The students from the faculties of non-profile assessed as follows: the students of the socio-human sciences chose the health factor and the social factor, the students of theologies placed more emphasis on the competition factor and the social factor, and the students of the exact sciences chose the competition factor as the most important.

The association relationship between the frequency of physical and sports activities and self-esteem [9]

Statistically, there is a difference between the average scores of self-esteem depending on the frequent or less frequent practice of physical and sports activities. Separately by gender, although the data suggest the same trend, the difference was not statistically significant [10]. On the other hand, there is a differentiation between the relationship between self-esteem and the frequency of sports activities according to gender.

In the case of girls, higher values of self-esteem correspond to higher frequencies of practice, and in the case of boys, there is no difference between those who practice sports rarely and those who practice monthly, but self-esteem is much higher in the case of those who practice several times a week or daily.

According to figure 4, it follows that the more frequent the practice of sports activities, the more positive the image of one's own body. In the case of the separate sample of girls and boys, the data graphically represented in Figure 4 suggest that female students who practice physical activity several times a month have a better body image than those who perform physical activity more frequently (weekly or daily). On the other hand, boys who exercise a few times a week or daily have a much better body image than those who exercise a few times a month, rarely or never.

The relationship between the frequency of physical and sports activities and the evaluation of other leisure options [11]

As expected, the figure below shows that those who practice physical activities more often report on average a lower pleasure in reading books than those who practice sports activities less often. On the other hand, there is a positive relationship between the degree of attendance at sport and the pleasure of practicing physical activity, so those who practice sports more frequently have on average a greater pleasure in engaging in physical activities.

In the preferences for certain sports among students, practiced and desired to practice, swimming is the sport most appreciated by students, regardless of gender, equally by those who know swimming techniques, but also by those who do not know how to swim [12]. This is followed by basketball, tennis, dance and aerobic gymnastics. Although an expensive sport, both girls and boys would like to learn to play tennis. Extreme sports interested a very small number of students participating in the interview.

Without an adequate preparation of the student, time for oneself can become a burden, a reason for decay, for slipping into boredom and inactivism. In this regard, the student must be coordinated to know/understand the value of rational management of free time, especially by:

✓ Activating students by asking them to operate with ideas, concepts, objects in order to re-evaluate them and issue new variants.

✓ Creating situations of motivation of the pupil/student for the activity of knowledge/understanding.

✓ Providing opportunities for each student to capitalize on their intellectual potential, personal skills and individual experience.

✓ Stimulating the constructive critical spirit, the ability to argue and identify alternatives.

✓ Favoring access to knowledge through one's own forces, stimulating the reflective attitude on one's own learning approaches.

✓ Cultivating cognitive independence, spontaneity and autonomy in learning.

✓ Forming in students attitudes and behaviors according to general-human and national values.

Also, an important aspect is the fact that young people are very active on social networks, a fact that determines a heightened awareness of the possibilities of choosing the activities they can carry out in their free time, and more so to establish new international human connections [13]. Regardless of the chosen sport, these young people manage to contribute to increasing their own level of happiness and implicitly to have a state of wellbeing [14].

CONCLUSION

The conclusions to the interest in leisure sports activities are that few of the participants, from both groups, practice physical activities regularly, the others have sporadic participations or even not at all. The discussions revealed that the students feel that they lack the time to be physically active. The form of movement indicated by all students who reported being physically active is running towards the end of the day, or various maintenance exercises during the week. A small part of them use their free time on weekends to exercise. Boys seem to be more active than girls and are especially interested in physical appearance.

The offer of effective leisure and recreation programs is the alternative for solving problems such as poor physical training, depression, suicide, drug abuse, aggression among the young generation. Consequently, leisure and recreational programs on university campuses should receive greater attention throughout all years of higher education.

Physical activities and sports, due to their characteristics, involve some of the best leisure activities for the participation of students, fulfilling all the functions of leisure in all levels, such as physical, mental and social.

Footnote

1 Assoc. Prof. PhD., Spiru Haret University, Bucharest, Romania, [email protected]

2 Assoc. Prof. PhD., Spiru Haret University, Bucharest, Romania, [email protected]

3 Handbal Club Larrisa, Greece, [email protected]

References

REFERENCES

[1] Kelly, J. R. (2009). Work and Leisure: A Simplified Paradigm, Journal of Leisure Research; Third Quarter. 41, 3.

[2] Nistor, L., Tîrhaş, C. (2013). Reflexive consumption. Aspects regarding the conflictual relationship between reflexive principles and economic constraints. Polirom Publishing House. Iaşi.

[3] McKenzie, (2013). Getting Physical: The Rise of Fitness Culture in America.University Press of Kansas.

[4] Volkwein-Caplan K. A. E. (2009). Culture, Sport, and Physical Activity, Vol. 5, 2nd edition. Meyer & Meyer Sport.

[5] Liao, T. F., et. al. (2013). The social definition of time for university students. In Time &Society http://tas.sagepub.com

[6] Ionescu, S., Ionescu, E. (2002). Free time, an acute problem of contemporary society. Romanian Journal of Cultural Studies. Pages 116-124.

[7] Bota, A. (2006). Physical exercises for an active life, Motor activities for free time (Exerciţii fizice pentru o viaţă activă, Activităţi motrice pentru timp liber) University Book Publishing House, Bucharest.

[8] Cordes, K., A. (2013). Applications in Recreation and Leisure, For Today and the Future. Sagamore Publishing LLC. The 4th Edition.

[9] Haskell, W. L et. al. (2007). Physical Activity and Public Health: Updated Recommendation for Adults From the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association. Circulation. No.116:1081-1093.

[10]Iacob, I., Iacob, M. R. (2005). Sport as leisure. Demiurg Publishing House. Iaşi.

[11]Craig. P., Beedie P. (2010). Sport Sociology. Second edition. Learning Matters Ltd. www.learningmatters.co.uk.

[12]Iluţ, P. (2013). In Search of Principles: Epistemology and Applied Social Methodology. Polirom Publishing House.

[13]Cilibiu, A. M., Plastoi, C. (2019). Interpersonal relationships as part of the continuous formativeeducational process gained through the internationalization process, 6th SWS International Scientific Conferences on social sciences, pg. 263-270, https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=42554066

[14]Yildirim, E., Koç, M.C., Ayar, H., Plastoi, C.D. (2023). Leisure Across theLifespan: Investigation of Happiness Levels of Individuals PlayingUnderwater Hockey, Anatolia Social Research Journal, volume 2, issue 2, pg. 5-11,

[15]https://anadolusosyal.com/index.php/as/article/view/31