RESEARCH FROM THE YOUTH SPORT TRUST REVEALS VICKY POLLARD STEREOTYPE IS REDUNDANT
British teenagers are often portrayed as stroppy, overweight, binge-drinking Vicky Pollards, but new research commissioned by the Youth Sport Trust (www.youthsporttrust.org), shows this is not the case for the majority of teens.
A major survey of over 1,600 young people and adults announced today by the Youth Sport Trust, the national charity working to build a better future for young people through sport, reveals many teenagers are health conscious, socially aware and more likely to ditch their X-box for X-ercise.
The poll, which questioned teenagers aged 11 to 18 and parents about their fitness habits and attitudes to sport, paints a markedly different picture to some of the recent stories on teenage lifestyles.
Generations differ on a question of sport
The Youth Sport Trust (YST) found young people have a different attitude towards PE and school sport compared to their parents at the same age. When asked to rank their top reason for participating in sport in school, almost twice as many young people (33%) said they did so because of the health benefits compared to less than one in five adults (18%).
The biggest attraction for parents to take up sport at school was for the fun factor (30%) compared to one in four young people (26%).
However, the well-known stereotype of “competitive dad” might not be so far off the mark. One in four dads (25%) chose either “winning” or “competing against others” as their top motivation for taking part in sport compared to 13 per cent of mums.
Overall, just one in eight young people (12%) said “winning” or “competing against others” was the main reason why they took part in sport and PE.
Kids ditch X-box for X-ercise
The YST poll also asked teenagers to rate their favourite leisure activity.
“Playing sport” came second in popularity overall, with one in five (21%) choosing it as their most preferred pastime, beaten only by “going out with friends” (39%). This firmly puts sport ahead of more sedentary pastimes such as playing computer games (only 7% ranked this as their favourite) and watching TV/DVS (only 6%).
Playing sport actually came top amongst teenage boys with 31% ranking it their most favourite activity followed by going out with friends (30%).
For teenage girls, who are a notoriously difficult group to engage with sport, going out with friends came top (48%), compared with listening to music (14%) and playing sport (13%).
Sport makes the best of friends
Teenagers are fully aware of the power sport has to help them gain valuable life skills and become more popular among their peers, according to the poll.
Nine out of ten (93%) said sport helped them work as part of a team, while four out of five (79%) believed it helped them make friends.
Seven out of ten (73%) reckoned taking part in sport made them a happier person, while two thirds (66%) said it helped them develop a sense of responsibility.
Legendary Paralympian and mother Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE, who is a Patron of the Youth Sport Trust, said: “These findings from the Youth Sport Trust turn the general perception that teenagers are a waste of space on its head. It’s clear that we are heading in the right direction in helping the next generation make the most out of the opportunities sport and an active lifestyle provide.
“However, it does not mean we should be complacent, we need to reach those youngsters who don’t currently take part in some kind of activity. I want to get the message across that it doesn’t matter if you’re overweight, skinny, have a disability, or worry about what you look like, you can still get a cut of the action – there’s a sport or activity out there for you to enjoy.”
Steve Grainger, Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said: “These results show that many of today’s teens have bags of passion and enthusiasm to get out there and become involved in sport in all its different guises, and are even more savvy than their parents about the range of benefits sport can provide.
“At the Youth Sport Trust, we are working hard to create opportunities for all young people to access five hours of PE and school sport a week by 2012. We are also keen to ignite the competitive spirit amongst young people, which this research suggests has been lost to this generation, to show our youngsters that competitive sport – and learning to both win and lose – is part of life. There is still much to do, but we are well on the way to creating the best PE and school sport system in the world.”
Today’s research comes on the eve of the Youth Sport Trust’s annual School and Sport Partnerships’ Conference, which will focus on how the teachers, co-ordinators and coaches working with young people can deliver the vision to offer them all the opportunities available through sport. Copies of the research will be available to delegates to help them in their planning to deliver sports opportunities for young people at local level.
The two-day conference at the Telford International Centre from November 28-29 will be opened by James Purnell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and will explore the joint working of School Sport Partnerships, National Governing Bodies and County Sports Partnerships in their bid to increase and improve young people’s participation in PE, school sport and club sport as part of the National School Sport Strategy.
Speakers also include mountaineer Joe Simpson and Olympians Dame Kelly Holmes, the National School Sport Champion, and Roger Black.
More information is available at www.youthsporttrust.org
(Ends)
Media Contacts
For more information, please contact the Youth Sport Trust Press office:
James Webb, Tel: 0207 843 2360 Mob: 07752 372151 or james.webb@youthsporttrust.org
Sophie Borromeo, Tel: 0207 278 7208 Mob: 07825 065 179 or sophie.borromeo@youthsporttrust.org
Notes to Editors
Youth Sport Trust
The Youth Sport Trust is a registered charity established in 1994 to build a brighter future for young people through sport. Its mission is to support the education and development of all young people through PE and sport. For more information, please visit www.youthsporttrust.org
About the Survey
The survey was carried out for the Youth Sport Trust by Dubit.
1,122 young people aged 11-18 took part in the survey along with 500 adults aged from under 40 to 50 plus.