The Problem Of Low Motivation Among Students To Participate In Extracurricular Activity

Problem Statement

The problem is that 9th-grade students are not motivated to participate in an extracurricular activity that will contribute to a lesser BMI because they do not have enough connectedness in their schools or transportation back and forth. The 9th-grade boys show more motivation and lesser BMI from the females. The school districts must determine a way to include these things during school to encourage both boys and girls to be equally motivated to get their BMI down.

Purpose Statement

The school district must allocate their scarcest resource, which is money. In the current economic times, many school districts are forced to cut spending and budgets (Staples, 2008). One of the most common budget cuts is funding for athletic and extracurricular activities. School districts are cutting coaching supplements, transportation for athletics, and funding for equipment. The school districts need to determine if this is the right course of action. Most students do not participate in extracurricular activities because of transportation. The school districts need to understand the relationship between student’s health and participation in extracurricular activities. If the school district provided extracurricular activities during school hours there would be more student participation and students with lesser BMI. They do not want to cut the funding to extracurricular activities if it is going to have a negative impact on student achievement.

Key Ideas Discovered

There was a study done by Verall, girls and boys of all ages who were underweight and of healthy weight spent more time in moderate and in vigorous physical activity than overweight, obese, or very obese children. On average, underweight and healthy-weight children spent approximately 10 minutes in vigorous activity and 49 to 55 minutes in moderate activity per day. Generally, the amount of time spent in moderate or vigorous physical activity was less for those who were overweight and obese. (Clin Pendintr 2012) Healthy-weight girls of all age categories were more active in moderate and vigorous activity than their heavier peers. Underweight girls were more active than overweight or obese girls but generally spent less average minutes inactivity than healthy-weight children. Younger age groups were more active than older age groups. In boys, significant differences based on weight status were evident when ages were pooled with a stepwise increase in activity with decreasing weight status. There were only significant differences by BMI status in the 6- to 8-, 9- to 11-, and 15- to 17-year-old groups for vigorous activity and in the 15- to 17-year-old group for moderate activity. Healthy- weight boys were more active than their heavier peers. Unlike girls, healthy-weight boys spent less time on average in vigorous activity than their underweight peers. (Clin Pedintr 2012). There has been research that shows that bonding with peers through participation in extracurricular activities showed signs of interest in participating, and as it was available to all, we were very pleased to welcome new students. David (fictional name) was the first of his peers to show up at the gym. We took the time to explain to him the objectives and the general rules of the activity, and that he was welcome to attend the weekly meeting with us at lunchtime. Since David showed no behavioral problems or lack of school engagement, we anticipated that his presence would have a positive influence on Marc. With this in mind, Luis planned a few workouts where the two students could train and share equipment together. For us, it made sense to expose Marc to an academically-oriented peer in the hope of spurring on Marc’s school engagement. After a few weeks, Luis reported that the two students trained well together. As for the other young student-athletes present at the gym, Luis observed that they never interacted with Marc and David, but that did not seem to bother them in any way. Mahoney, J. L., Cairns, B. D., & Farmer, T. W. (2003).

Applicable Theories

The general result was that the athletes reported a more positive body image than the control groups, and the magnitude of this effect was small. This result may be due to the possibility that athletes, because of their high physical activity levels, may more closely resemble the current aesthetic ideal of a thin/lean and fit physique for females and a lean and muscular physique for males than the non-athletes (Brownell,1991). This finding may also be due to the fact that physical activity participation is associated with increases in positive psychological characteristics (e.g., increased self-esteem, decreased mood disturbance) that are related to positive body image (Fox, 2000; Landers & Arent, 2001). The question of whether individuals with a positive body image choose to participate in sport or that they develop favorable images through athletic engagement is an area of further inquiry. This could potentially be investigated using longitudinal research designs that track athletes over the course of several years.

Relevance of Previous Research

The relevance of my research is to show that if extracurricular activities we included during school and the cost, and transportation was provided for the students that we would see healthier students entering high school. The past studies have shown that students especially the male population showed an increasingly lower BMI.

Summation

In summary, extracurricular activities allowed students to form positive relationships and allowed them to take care of their health in a more health-conscious way. Conducting a study on both active and non-active students will allow us to bridge a gap that has been an ongoing issue here in the US. In developing a more health-conscious environment at school we can expect to see BMI’s decrease to show more positive results. Also building relationships and positive self-esteem through extracurricular activities drive students to do better academically. These solutions are not only for the benefit of those affected by a larger BMI but also to educate the students and community on the things that are affecting our youth today.