Quote:
Reported in the media today here is the question
Why do teenage girls lose interest in PE in teenage years
There are moves to work out solutions.Obesity is growing here and there is great interest in all aspects of nutrition and exercise.
MA
Being more self-conscious of changing/maturing body and boys. Also just distracted by other things to try/explore.
But above all, teenage girls like all teenagers have a powerful need to be accepted by their peers and feel secure in an identity that is cool, hip/approachable to them.
I was never into PE as a teenager. A bookish geek but yes, I did love softball and played it informally during recess until I was 11. (in a playing field/playground segregated from the boys) Plus biking at home. Had an interest in field hockey but didn't pursue it much..because I enjoyed much more writing poetry, doing art and reading tons of books as a teen.
The girls that I knew as a teenager who were interested and did some sports ...tended to be the team/group sports. Same gals did well in 1-2 solo sports --a track and field sport.
I actually think it's much more difficult to interest teenagers in solo sports....where performance of the person depends solely on the individual not on teamplay/team performance. Certain sports require extra coaching for individual performance and inner strength of the teenager to keep plugging along in a solitary sport vs. a team sport.
I have thought about this because when I belonged to all-women's cycling group (in my 30's) and was on its organizing committee for a few years, we wondered how we could interest teenage girls in cycling. We just couldn't figure out a strategy because all of us worked full-time and couldn't visit the schools.
What would truly help teenagers, if PE teachers could help teens in their later years, find a sport that matches their personality and mentor them. Not an easy thing, since enough adults have problems finding and sticking to a type of sport that they love..for the long term.
I am not convinced the focus on obesity to motivate teenagers to exercise is the best approach. (by telling teens to exercise so that they lose weight or don't get fat). Pleasure and fun and de-stressing should be more the focus...then the pounds can roll off more easily.
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