Colombia: Confecamaras y Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá Confecamaras

Literature on the impact of participation in after-school clubs is relatively limited, although teachers involved in studies in Dublin and Maynooth (cited by Hennessy and Donnelly, 2005) have reported benefits to pupils who participate in them. They note that although participants did no better in school than their non- participating counterparts, the fact that they were equivalent may in itself be an achievement. In addition, the study noted that both children and families reported other benefits of participation in after-school clubs, including support and opportunities for improving social and other skills.

A small proportion of children (8%) were reported by their mothers as having participated in homework clubs, with no significant difference in participation rates between boys and girls. In broad terms children from three main groups were significantly more likely than others to participate in homework clubs – those whose mother had the lowest level of educational attainment, those in the lowest family income group and those in single-parent families (especially single-parent families with 3 or more children) – Figure 9.15.

126 Male % of 9-year -ol ds 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 12 Female 15 Lowest income group 9 2nd 11 3rd 14 Prof/ Managerial 16 Non Manual/ Skilled Manual 12 Semi-skilled /Unskilled 10 4th 16 Highest income group 17

Figure 9.15: Parental report on participation in homework clubs, classified by highest level of mother's educational attainment, family income and family type

127 Lower Secondary or less % of 9-year -ol ds 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 13 Leaving Certificate 6 Subdegree 6 Graduate 4 Lowest income group 14 2nd 8 3rd 6 4th 5 Highest income group 5 Single parent 1 or 2 children 13 Single parent 3 or more children 17 Two parents 1 or 2 children 6 Two parents 3 or more children 7

9.6

KEY FINDINGS

• Watching television is an almost universal activity among nine-year-olds in Ireland. Only 2% were reported by their mothers as not watching any TV on a typical weeknight during term time. Two-thirds of nine-year-olds usually watched one to three hours each evening with 10% watching three or more hours.

• There was no difference between boys and girls in the amount of time they spent watching television though viewing times were significantly higher among children whose mothers had lower levels of education and those in lower social class categories.

• Substantial amounts of time were spent playing video games, especially by boys. 74% of boys and 54% of girls spent some time each day playing video games, with 30% of boys and 12% of girls spending one hour or more. As with television viewing, the amount of time spent on an average day was higher among children in lower social class categories.

• A total of 45% of children had a TV in their bedroom, 35% a video/DVD player and 35% a video games console. It was particularly notable that income was not a constraint in having these items in the child’s bedroom. Children from lower income families and lower social class backgrounds were more likely than others to have one of these items in their bedroom.

• A total of 89% of children said they had a computer in their home. Ownership was strongly related to social class, maternal education and family type (higher in two-parent families).

• Only 8% of nine-year-olds were reported by their mother to have a computer or laptop in their bedroom. As was the case with the television, video/DVD player and games console the proportion of nine-year-olds with a computer in their bedroom was higher among those with lower family income and lower levels of maternal education, as well as being higher among single-parent families.

• Among children who had a computer at home there were no differences in the uses to which it was put according to the child’s sex, social class or other family characteristics.

• Playing games was the most frequent use of the home computer (cited by 86% of nine-year-olds). This was followed by surfing the internet for fun and school projects (47 – 48%), movies/music (28%) and homework (26%).

• One-third of children who had a computer claimed to have access to the internet without a parent or adult knowing what they were doing. The percentage of children who claimed to have unsupervised access increased with social class and level of mother’s education.

• Three-quarters of nine-year-olds were involved in some form of organised sports club or organisation, the rate being higher among boys (84%) than girls (67%). Participation in structured sports clubs increased with family income.

• A total of 47% of children were involved in structured cultural activities such as dance, ballet, arts and drama. Substantially higher proportions of girls (65%) than boys (31%) were engaged in these activities. Participation increased substantially with mother’s education, social class and family income.

• 7% of children were involved in Youth Clubs, there being no difference in participation rates between boys and girls. Involvement was more common among children from lower income families.

13% of children were involved in Scouts/Guides, etc. Higher rates were evident among girls (15%) than boys (12%). Rates increased with social class and family income.

• 8% of nine-year-olds were involved in after-school clubs. There were no differences in participation between boys and girls. Children from three groups were significantly more likely to participate: those whose mother’s had lower levels of educational attainment, had lower family income and children in single-parent families (especially families with three or more children).

9.7 SUMMARY

One of the long-term goals for children identified in Towards 2016is that every child should have access to quality play, sport, recreation and cultural activities to enrich their experience of childhood. Social class differences were clearly evident in how children spent their free time and opportunities for outdoor play, sport and other organised leisure or cultural activities can be very variable, depending on the family’s access to resources. Children from lower social class categories tended to be engaged for longer on a daily basis in sedentary pursuits such as watching TV, videos and playing video games, while children from higher social classes appear to have more opportunities to take part in organised sports and cultural activities. The information presented in the chapter indicates that there are challenges to policy makers in ensuring that children from all backgrounds and family types have equal access to structured sports and cultural activities. Gender differences were also evident in some aspects of how the children were spending their free time. Boys were involved in more sporting activity and played more video games, while girls were spending more time in cultural pursuits. These differences may have an impact on physical health as well as later

educational and socioemotional outcomes. The gender differences in sports participation, as well as social class differences in some of the more sedentary activities, should be considered when developing specific policies targeting physical activity amongst children and adolescents as a measure to reduce childhood obesity which, as was seen in Chapter 4 above, is an issue of concern among large proportions of nine-year- olds.

Social patterning in access to computers in the home is a further area which the study suggests may pose challenges to policy makers. In view of their ever increasing importance in education it is clearly imperative that steps be taken to ensure that differential home access to computers should not be allowed to

exacerbate the potential disadvantage already facing children from families who cannot afford a computer at home. Equally, over-use of computers and excessive time spent using them may adversely impact on the child’s socioemotional development, peer relationships and so on. Policy makers, parents and teachers must work together to establish a balance in the role they play directly in educational space as well as their spillover effects in the family, health, community and neighbourhood spaces in which the child operates. Information from Growing Up in Irelandwill make it possible, for the first time, to fully explore how outcomes and background characteristics in each of these spaces act and interact with each other. Most importantly, as longitudinal data emerge from the study they will allow us to assess the impact of participation in a range of activities in middle childhood on subsequent behavioural and other outcomes in later childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

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CHILDREN’S NEIGHBOURHOODS