Sociology Essay: Changing Leisure Patterns of Children Over Time

This essay analyzes the evolving leisure patterns of children, examining the shift from traditional outdoor activities to technology-driven entertainment. It discusses the impact of smartphones, the internet, and urbanization on children's free time and social interactions. The essay highlights the importance of structured leisure activities for physical and mental well-being, emphasizing the need for parents to encourage a balance between screen time and outdoor play. It explores how these changes affect children's social skills, creativity, and overall development, and considers the positive and negative aspects of these shifts. The essay concludes that leisure patterns are changing, and that it is important to understand how these changes influence children. The essay also references various academic journals and books on the subject.

Essay

Contents
Topic: Whether leisure patterns for children are changing..........................................................................3
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................8

Topic: Whether leisure patterns for children are changing
INTRODUCTION
Leisure can be defined as the freedom from work or school or any other responsibilities.
People usually participate in leisure activities when they have free time such as during weekends
or in evenings. Leisure activities are undertaken for enjoyment and can include organized
outings, events or non-professional sports (Hilpert and et.al, 2017). Leisure time is important for
an individual because it allows them to take some time off from stress and relax. Not only this, it
also helps them in empowering themselves to deal with different situations in a less stressful
manner. it is a well-known fact that mental wellness is very important for overall health. And
participating in different recreational activities can stimulate mental as well as physical
wellbeing among children. It can also help in enhancing their self-esteem as well as confidence.
As a result, they achieve a sense of satisfaction. This essay is based on whether leisure patterns
for children are changing.
MAIN BODY
Leisure activities among children is important because it helps in improving their overall
physical and mental wellbeing. Not only this, it can also enhance their confidence and self-
esteem which leads to a child achieving a sense of satisfaction. The leisure patterns among
children have changed over the years with the advancements in technology. There are different
types of leisure activities that children during the past years used to take part in different types of
outdoor activities. but today, the leisure patterns have changed a lot. They are mostly involved in
with their mobile phones. Leisure activities are one of the most vital components for children.
This is because it significantly contributes to their overall mental development. not only this,
they also stimulate the social development of the child. There have been many changes that have
contributed to the overall shift of leisure patterns among children (Hulteen and et.al., 2017). For
instance, children during previous years used to participate in different leisure activities during
their free time. This included cycling, playing different types of sports and outdoor games etc.
They were more interested in indulging in various outdoor activities rather than staying home
and doing nothing. But today, the leisure patterns for children are constantly changing. This is
because they now have access to a high-speed internet as well as smartphones.

The children nowadays have become more involved in their smart phones as due to
advancements in technology, they have access to all the recent content, including videos as well
as games (Willis and et.al., 2017). Healthy children as well as adolescents are most of the time
glued to their mobile screen and due to this, their overall health is getting impacted. Structured
and well-organized leisure activities contribute to the physical as well as mental development of
the child. Parents should make sure that their children are not always on the phone and go
outside and participate in different leisure activities that will contribute to their overall
development (Kelly, 2019). The leisure patterns of children have changed over the years and it
has become very important to understanding the reasons behind the same. With an increase in
urbanization across the world, it has become extremely important to ensure the level of
participation among different activities. Leisure activities in which children participate outside
their homes is related to their outdoor play. Participation in leisure activities helps children to
develop friendships, develop competencies as well as skills. That are helpful in their future.
Apart from this, it also helps children in understanding the expectations of the society and
developing confidence. Due to its large size, Australia has different climate zones and this means
that the northern part of the country has a tropical, hot and humid climate whereas dry in winter.
This is important because it will help in understanding the children as well as their behavior.
Children are interested in different types of leisure activities based on their gender as
well. This can include different types of sports as well as games based on their individual
interests. Children who are involved in different types of leisure activities such as bicycling,
playing outdoor games, drawing etc., are happier and more productive in their studies. Not only
this, leisure activities help in reducing the stress and makes them feel fresh (Longo and et.al.,
2017). There are many studies that have been conducted in order to understand the changing
pattern of leisure activities in children. The results show that children who are actively involved
in different innovative leisure activities are far more productive that children who are only
engaged with their mobile phones or any other type of technology. Australia is a technologically
advanced country wherein people have access to technology. Not only this, even the schools as
well as colleges use latest technology due to which students are now able attend their classes and
complete the different assignments that they are provided. Although children were active during
their childhood and used to play different types of games due to which they also got a chance to
interact with new people and increase their social circle.

Different types of leisure activities help the children to develop creative skills and build
up their imagination in an effective manner. The choice and selection of different leisure
activities among children keeps on changing with age. While young children are more interested
in engaging with their friends and playing different games, older children and adolescents might
me more interested in video games or their smartphones. Children get to learn a lot of things
when they involve themselves in leisure activities (Ratcliff, Hong and Hilton, 2018). The parents
should make sure that the leisure activities in which their children are engaged are educational.
This is important because it will help in ensuring that they get a chance to learn new and
innovative things. The things that they learn during their leisure time are also very important
because they make them learn new things. One of the main things that children are expected to
participate in is studying. A replacement has taken place and still going to take place in the
future. This is because the lives of not only the adults, but the children is also changing with a
fast pace. Children who engage in organized leisure activities, are able to build stronger networks
with other children. This contributes to their overall development as adults and ensures that they
develop strong interpersonal skills.
Families play a vital role in enabling the participation of their children in different leisure
activities. The reason behind this is that children are likely to listen to their parents and follow
the instructions that they give or suggest. When the families of children value different cultural
activities, the children tend to follow the same and participate in the process. Children who
involve in leisure activities such as outdoor games as well as sports, have a sense of togetherness.
Not only this, they are also confident. There are both positive as well as negative aspects of the
changing leisure patterns in children. For instance, today children are more engaged to their
respective smartphones. This has helped them in learning various new skills and enhance their
knowledge about different things during their free time. On the other hand, during earlier times,
children used to join different courses in order to develop new skills (Schaenzel and Carr, 2018).
The findings of various studies show that the parents today have to opt for different strategies in
order to encourage their children to leave the phones and participate in structured leisure
activities. there are also certain negative aspects of this, like the children are not able to
concentrate on their daily studies and this can be seen in their performance.

One issue relates to the outcomes in phrases of social exclusion, social inequality and
integration for people who do not take part in organized activities for specific reasons. This have
a look at indicates that prepared enjoyment sports might be an essential social area wherein
friendships are made and sustained. With extended participation in prepared amusement sports,
kids who do now not participate are prone to being even more by myself on the streets and of
their houses. Many of the entertainment activities are anticipated to have a number advantageous
effects (e.G. Friendship, health, social community), and definitely impact a infant's life chances
(Vila-Nova, Oliveira and Cordovil, 2020). That a few companies are systematically averted with
the aid of social elegance and/or cultural history from taking part in such sports contradicts to the
political goal’s commonplace in many Western societies that all and sundry (and children) are
entitled to have identical possibilities. Children can usually use some outdoor activities with a
view to live energetic, and proper now could be the time while mother and father want to hold
them lively outdoors as opposed to having them gambling video video games all the time.
With the boom inside the range of video video games, television stations, and social
media sites, getting kids exterior might not be that easy as you suspect. They will handiest get
out if it is some thing that receives them excited. A motorbike is superb workout for each the
kids and adults. Anyone who became growing up as a child will always love to own a bicycle.
Parents too can now purchase your kid a motorbike, and dad and mom will never ought to
pressure the kid to get at the bike for some a laugh hours. Each time school is over; the child will
race domestic simply to ride the new bike. Individual and contextual elements do seem to
provide diverse perspectives and practices amongst households concerning using recreational
services for his or her youngsters. Parks and playgrounds then again are used by all families
(Walton, 2019). Nevertheless, the doubtlessly socially pushed nature of using such services begs
for greater research. The acknowledgment of a variety of perspectives on the brought value of
leisure activities, as non-compulsory sports, to youngsters’s well-being leads to the popularity of
a range of practices and of wishes. In this perspective, affordability in kids’s unfastened time
may be addressed, policy-smart, through most important channels: the provision of first-rate,
diverse and handy recreational services, within the line of a universalist model; and an parallel
provide of parks and playgrounds in combination with an advanced access to public space at
massive for kids.

CONCLUSION
From the above essay, it can be concluded that leisure patterns among children are
changing with time. There are many factors that contribute to this such as advancements in
technology and increase in the availability of resources. As a result, the children are more
engaged to the smartphones and rarely step out of their homes to take part in different leisure
activities. leisure time is very important for children because it helps them in enhancing their
skills as well as knowledge. Not only this, it is a great method to develop imagination skills as
well as become more confidents.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Hilpert, M. and et.al, 2017. Sociocultural influence on obesity and lifestyle in children: A study
of daily activities, leisure time behavior, motor skills, and weight status. Obesity Facts.
10(3). pp.168-178.
Hulteen, R. M. and et.al., 2017. Global participation in sport and leisure-time physical activities:
A systematic review and meta-analysis. Preventive medicine. 95. pp.14-25.
Kelly, J. R., 2019. Leisure identities and interactions. Routledge.
Longo, E. and et.al., 2017. Comparing parent and child reports of health-related quality of life
and their relationship with leisure participation in children and adolescents with Cerebral
Palsy. Research in developmental disabilities. 71. pp.214-222.
Ratcliff, K., Hong, I. and Hilton, C., 2018. Leisure participation patterns for school age youth
with autism spectrum disorders: Findings from the 2016 national survey of children’s
health. Journal of autism and developmental disorders. 48(11). pp.3783-3793.
Schaenzel, H. and Carr, N. eds., 2018. Children, families and leisure. Routledge.
Vila-Nova, F., Oliveira, R. and Cordovil, R., 2020. Participation in Leisure Activities by
Portuguese Children With Cerebral Palsy. Perceptual and motor skills. 127(6). pp.1051-
1067.
Walton, K. M., 2019. Leisure time and family functioning in families living with autism
spectrum disorder. Autism. 23(6). pp.1384-1397.
Willis, C. and et.al., 2017. Elements contributing to meaningful participation for children and
youth with disabilities: a scoping review. Disability and rehabilitation. 39(17). pp.1771-
1784.