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Critical Commentary 1:
Extracurricular activities and the positive affect they have on adolescents.
The educational community is constantly looking at ways to improve the development of
adolescents within the schooling environment. With growing concern over the heath of young
people, as well as the ever present problems surrounding disengagement during the middle years,
the issue of keeping students interested in school is one of increasing importance. With researchers
finding that adolescents spend more than half their waking hours engaging in leisure activities
(Bloomfield & Barber, 2010), many academics are looking at ways for students to use their leisure
time more productively and reduce the amount of time wasted by watching television or playing
video games. One such suggestion is aimed at getting adolescents more involved in extracurricular
activities.
Extracurricular activities can be defined as any educational activity not falling within the scope of the
regular curriculum (Fredricks & Eccles, 2006) and can range from sports, chess club, public speaking,
drama groups, dancing and many more. It is widely believed that participation in extracurricular
activities is a great way for adolescents to spend their leisure time. Eccles, Barber, Stone & Hunt
(2003) believe that there are a number of benefits of such activities. Firstly, extracurricular activities
allow students to acquire and practice social, physical and intellectual skills, in a different
environment to that of the classroom which will be useful throughout their lives. They assist in
developing the students’ sense of belonging within the community which helps them to establish
supportive social networks of both peers and adults around them. Finally, extracurricular activities
expose students to problems and challenges which, in turn, enhance their level of school
engagement and are said to prevent students from engaging in risky behaviours while teaching them
valuable lifelong skills.
Numerous studies have weighed up the pros and cons of extracurricular activities with the majority
agreeing that adolescents who participate in these activities are more likely to succeed in all aspects
of life than those who do not (Fredricks & Eccles, 2005 and Hoffman, 2006). Another important
discovery made by Mahoney and colleagues (as cited in Eccles et al. 2003) found a distinct link
between participation in extracurricular activities, particularly in the early high school years, and
reduced rates of criminal activity and school dropout later in life as well as increased academic
aspirations. In saying that, most studies also agreed that there are still some negatives associated
with certain types of extracurricular activities, more specifically, team sports.
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Bloomfield & Barber (2010) found that adolescents who participate in extracurricular activities are
exposed to situations that promote social, emotional and civic development and subsequently
engage in less negative behaviour (skipping school, etc.). However, this study also found that certain
activities encourage more positive behaviours than others; for example, middle years’ students who
participated in activities such as the performing are were less likely to engage in alcohol use later on
in their schooling career that those who participated in team sporting activities. Hoffman (2006)
looked specifically at the relationship between adolescents and drug use and found that although
alcohol consumption among those participating in team sports increased, particularly in males, it
was found that those same students were less likely to experiment with recreational drugs such as
marijuana and cocaine.
Eccles et al. (2003) concur with these findings. They agreed that participation in team sports has
been associated with increased alcohol consumption; however they concluded that participation in
any extracurricular activity whether it was sporting, cultural or performing arts based was associated
with better than expected academic outcomes including grades and attendance and are therefore
more beneficial than not. These benefits were found to be seen both in the short term and the long
term with studies suggesting that participation in extracurricular activity was also linked to further
educational studies later on in life (university, TAFE, etc.). Furthermore, various studies raised the
point that the structure of these activities played a crucial role in determining the future behaviours
of students including alcohol and drug use.
Fredricks & Eccles (2005) noted that students who participated in unstructured team sporting
activities (not supervised by an adult or authoritarian figure) were more likely to be recruited into
negative peer groups than those who participated in structured activities. It has also been found that
adolescents who participated in structured activities associate with peers who have similar values,
both socially and academically. The values of the group as a whole often then influence individuals
within the group leading to a positive effect on the development of the students. The influence of
peers during the middle years have been found to be extremely important with the majority of
young people being influenced more by their peers than anyone else. Therefore, the peers that the
students align themselves with in the middle years can play a pivotal role in their development
(Fredricks & Eccles, 2005) and it is important that the education system foster these groups by
offering a wide range of activities for the students to participate in,
Another troubling issue amongst all children, middle years’ students in particular, is the growing
statistics regarding childhood obesity. As previously mentioned, adolescents spend more than half
their waking time engaging in leisure activities, it can be concluded that the majority of the other
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time is spent at school which is the perfect environment for promoting not only healthy life choices
in terms of academics, but healthy life choices in terms of physical activity and nutrition as well.
Making physical activity fun for students is one of the toughest things teachers and parents will
encounter, but it is important to understand just how much being active can help students in all
facets of their lives.
A recent study by Trudeau & Shepard (2008) found very few linkages between physical fitness and
academic achievement. But an intriguing observation from this study found that students who
participated in extracurricular school sports felt more connected to schooling life and were more
satisfied with school itself meaning they were more likely to attend and therefore at lower risk of
disengaging. This point is crucial in that teachers and parents may not always be able to get through
to adolescents on an academic level, but as long as they are attending school and are interested in
what is going on they have a better chance of succeeding than if they were not attending school at
all. This particular study should be looked at very closely by the educational community as it shows
that students who participate in school sports as well as extracurricular sporting activities are more
engaged in schooling life and therefore at lower risk of disengaging.
Ultimately, children exposed to structured extracurricular activities, especially during the middle
years, have been found to participate in less risky behaviours, such as recreational drug use, have a
greater sense of belonging within the community, have better grades at school and greater
academic aspirations than those who do not. With this in mind, there should be a greater push by
the schooling system to offer a wider variety of extracurricular activities in schools and promote
those activities in such a way that engages students and allows them to make positive choices about
how they spend their leisure time. As demonstrated previously, the benefits of extracurricular
activities are endless and although it has been found that participation in team sports has been liked
with increased alcohol consumption later on in life, the academic, social and health benefits of all
extracurricular activities, sports included, are key to improving adolescent development and should
be experienced by all middle years students.
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References:
Bloomfield, C., & Barber, B. (2010). Australian adolescents’ extracurricular activity participation and
positive development: Is the relationship mediated by peer attributes? Australian Journal of
Education & Developmental Psychology. Vol. 10, 108-122.
Eccles, J., S., Barber, B., L., Stone, M., & Hunt, J. (2003). Extracurricular activities and adolescent
development. Journal of Social Issues. Vol. 59, No.4, 865-889.
Fredricks, J., A., & Eccles, J., S. (2005). Developmental benefits of extracurricular involvement: Do
peer characteristics mediate the link between activities and youth outcomes? Journal of Youth
and Adolescence. Vol. 34, No. 6, 507-520
Fredricks, J., A., & Eccles, J., S. (2006). Extracurricular involvement and adolescent adjustment:
Impact of duration, number of activities and breadth of participation. Applied Developmental
Science. Vol. 10, No. 3, 132-146.
Fredricks, J., A., & Eccles, J., S. (2006) Is extracurricular participation associated with beneficial
outcomes? Concurrent and longitudinal relations. Developmental Psychology. Vol. 42, No. 4,
698-713.
Hoffman, J., P. (2006). Extracurricular activities, athletic participation, and adolescent alcohol use:
Gender-differentiated and school-contextual effects. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour.
Vol. 47, 275-290.
Trudeau, F., & Shepard, R., J. (2008). Physical education, school physical activity, school sports and
academic performance. International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity.
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