Impact of SportRecreational Activities on Students' Behavior and Academic Learning (Research Paper Sample)

Impact of Sports and Recreational Activities on Students’ Behavior and Academic Learning
Name
Institution
Impact of Sports and Recreational Activities on Students’ Behavior and Academic Learning
Sport has become a big business and an attraction for many people. With billions of dollars spent in the industry, it is unsurprising that the popularity of the collegiate and professional sports mirrors in many sports programs in high schools. Many learning institutions are looking for ways to increase the academic performance and model good behavior among all their students. During high school years, student’s memories are under development. The lessons they learn in life can be molded through involvement in activities and are imperative to adolescent growth (Tower, 2008). Administrators, teachers, and parents encourage learners to engage in balanced study programs that include, among others, participation in extracurricular activities. Studies have shown that regular participation in extracurricular activities improves the health and wellbeing of the student. It improves their self-esteem, reduces stress and anxiety, and improves their muscle strength (Daley & Leahy, 2003). Beyond the known health benefits that come with recreational activities, sports events influence academic performance.
Few studies have examined the impact of sports and recreational activities on student’s behavior and academic learning. For those studies that find no positive relationship between participation in sports and academic achievement, they cite factors such as less time to work school assignment. Given the sensitivity of curricular activities, it is important to determine the impact of sports and recreational activities on student’s behavior and academic learning. The outcome of this study will contribute to the current understanding of the relationship between extracurricular activities, educational outcome, and student conduct. It will help inform learning institutions to design their academic and non-academic activities in a manner to improve overall academic performance and model positive behavior among the students.
Research Questions
1 Can sports and recreational activities help elementary schools to overcome the behavior issues and increase the academic standards?
2 To what extent sports or recreational activities have an influence on student’s action?
3 How important are sports and other leisure activities in the life of a kid?
4 How can schools benefit of sports and recreational activities?
5 What can be the impact of sports and recreational activities on students with bad behavior?
6 How much sports and recreational activities can help students to maintain the academic standard?
Hypotheses
The following hypotheses will be tested:
H1. Sports or recreational activities can help school administration and staff to manage behavioral issues.
H2. Sports or recreational activities can drive the students in good direction and stay in a good academic standard.
H3. Sports or recreational activities can increase motivation for a student to improve academically.
H4. Sports or recreational activities can serve as an incentive to help students to behave in school.
Literature Review
This section provides a comprehensive review of the literature on the impact of sport and recreational activities on student behavior and academic performance. The studies included in the review were obtained through desktop research by searching key terms such as recreational activities in school, student academic performance, and student behavior. An initial search yielded 20 articles, but after a closer examination, 15 were found to be relevant for the study. The studies have been organized according to the research questions ranging. The review provides a critical summary of the studies and identifies the gaps in the literature. It lays out the foundation for the new study that will aim to find conclusive findings about the link between extracurricular activities in academic outcomes and behaviors.
History of Sport and Recreational School Activities
The development of recreational and sports activities in school was slow in the early years. Many people saw it as a fad that would simply disappear. Eventually, educators began to notice the benefits of such activities. However, it took time before they acknowledged the positive contribution of such activities. In fact, before the 20th century, teachers were highly skeptical of engaging students in extracurricular activities as they believed that learning institutions needed to focus on the academic outcomes and nothing else (Fredricks & Eccles, 2006). They viewed non-academic success as being recreational and disastrous to academic performance, a perception that compelled them to discourage them. Some of the first experts stated that extracurricular activities work as supplements to the experiences in the formal programs found in schools. It was not until recent that teachers acknowledged the positive benefit associated with academic performance.
Still many academicians did not see the need of including such activities in high schools. While the athletic sport has always been an integral part of human culture, it was not considered a part of the educational environment (Fredricks & Eccles, 2006). Educators portrayed sports as injurious and evil and a source of student mischief. Although most of the academicians condemned competitive sports during the rejection era, many students craved the participation. After-school activities across the nation in the early 20th century gave educators a new perspective that activities had the capability of providing benefits to the students learning experience. The introduction of sports in schools went through different stages and by the mid-20th century, they were integrated as part of the curriculum.
Nonetheless, sport and student academic performance remains a highly debatable issue. The ardent supports argue that sports activities in learning institutions improves academic performance, student grades, keeps them in colleges and schools, and raises their educational aspirations. The critics affirm that participating in recreational activities deflects valuable time away from the classroom and divert learner’s attention from studying. As such, it is almost impossible for students to achieve excellence in both classwork and sports activities. With the possibility of having a consensus low, it is likely that the debate is set to continue. Given the current situation, it is unclear whether sports activities improve academic performance and raise behavioral standards among the students.
Impact of Sport and Recreational Activities on Student Behavior
School-based sport and recreational activities allow students to gain interpersonal skills and positive social norms which assist in managing behavioral issues. It builds self-esteem, discipline, and other achievement related qualities. Sports participation may influence the mental well-being of students by keeping fit, reducing stress, and feeling overall about their appearances. Students that participate in extracurricular activities report higher self-perceptions as compared to those that do not engage in the activities Daley and Leahy (2003) conducted a study involving 126 randomly selected teens’ aged 8 to 9 nines who participated in extracurricular activities. The second group comprised of 63 additional children that did not engage in sports activities. The researchers observed that those who did regular physical activity perceived themselves in a positive manner. Positive attitudes toward school and higher grades are linked to a positive self-esteem. Students that do not like school would not do as well as those that like school because they do not feel that they will succeed. According to the self-determination theory, if a student-athlete has internalized and integrated the self-confidence into his sense of self, he or she can transfer it over to academics (Daley & Leahy, 2003).
Moreover, participation in recreational sports activities creates a sense of belonging among the students. School belonging refers to the extent to which students feel accepted, included, supported, and respected by other in the school environment. Feeling of belonging to school among students is associated with academic engagement, lower dropout rates, and higher accountability for risky behavior (Daley & Leahy, 2003). Educators should recognize that student plays a significant role in the establishment of the culture of belongingness among their peers and schools by the positive attitude they have. Therefore, it is their duty to model and create a healthy relationship with the students to ensure that the students feel a sense of belongingness in the school.
Participation in sports has an integrating function, which creates identification, unity, personal identity and a link among the participants. The link may create a strong connection with a student that shares similar aspirations to double their efforts in the classroom. Teachers do not have control over the types of students them in school or the abilities they possess when they are enrolled. Rather, they have an obligation to assist the students in building a positive learning culture by emphasizing resiliency. Students engaged in sports activities have an opportunity to learn and practice resilient behaviors and apply that mindset in their academic life. Coaches can teach them about resilience when they lose in the games. Learners that do not participate in recreational activities lack the opportunities to build resiliency. The life lessons that students learn when participating in games allows them to approach life challenges...