Discuss the area of Teenage girls participation in PA.

Ozer Gurpinar s3920119

There is an immense amount of data and knowledge to rectify the importance of participation in
physical activity and why adolescence and adults, should be doing some form of exercise to help
with physical, social and mental wellbeing. With a decrease in physical participation in adults it
also has been established that rates have been decreasing for children and adolescence, with
teenage females having a lower participation rate than males (Amy Slater 2010). Some reasons
in which adolescence might find themselves not taking part in physical activity could be reasons
such as the cost of organised sport ,lower socioeconomic area, not being exposed to the benefits
of being physically active, lack of success, lack of skill development (Amy Slater 2010).. These
are just some reasons in which teenagers may find themselves not being active; however these
are not reasons specifically to why females rates are lower than males. The aim is to investigate
reasons why adolescent females have a lower participation rate and to find reasons to why their
participation rates are lower than male teenagers and what ideas and theories are associated with
it. To also look at what methods and ideas are out there to help improve their involvement in
school and also in the community.

As a physical educator, an important factor in which we always try to achieve is getting all
students involved in our physical education practical classes. With a number of students sitting
out in class and not wanting to participate is not something were aiming for. An investigation

that used the method of asking questions to female adolescence in high school year 8 and 9 in
South Australia, they asked two key questions to answer. These questions were in regards to
why they stop playing sports or other physical activates and why do you think girls dont play
sport/physical activity as much as boys? (Amy Slater 2010). The findings in the study suggest
that teenage females were losing interest or becoming bored with a particular sport/ activity,
insufficient time, and lack of competence. Other frequently given reasons included the sport not
being available, injury, practical issues (e.g. transport) and the coach. Interestingly, the influence
of friends and family and issues relating to team-mates and teasing were also mentioned by many
of the groups (Amy Slater 2010). Based on the findings the female students where finding
themselves in a situation that may have influenced their decision to stop being involved, such as
teasing or not getting along with a coach or finding the competitive nature of the sport too
stressful in relation to balancing everything else with life. The article also suggests that there
was a high level of agreement that girls playing sports may be viewed in a negative light by some
of their peers, particularly other girls (Amy Slater 2010). Females perception of body image
and what others think of them is something that these teenage females seem to be conscious of
and they feel as its uncool to be doing sport while in high school.

A research study conducted in Western Australia argues that females do want to be participating
however are faced with similar factors, this was done by the form of a survey. Their findings
mentioned sport is repetitive and boring or too serious and competitive and the fact that sport

can be a "turn-off" for adolescent girls when they are playing with the boys or being watched by
the boys. Girls also dislike being treated differently and they are especially uncomfortable when
made to feel inadequate due to a lack of skills (Johnston 1997). It has also been stated that
Many of the issues the girls raised clearly reflect current (and historical) cultural values as these
are expressed through sport. Other issues are closely intertwined with the complexities of human
biology. (Johnston 1997). This raises the issue of gender differences in society and females not
wanting to be known as somebody who is too masculine, there is this icky culture in which
these females are facing and what sort of image they should be projecting in society and what is
expected on them. With teasing being a big issue in females experience in physical
participation it has been stated that Females have experienced a higher rate of teasing than
males In a study conducted. The teasing is associated with same gender and opposite genders
based on their looks, weight and their coordination skills. Results have found that boys are more
likely to be teasing girls on their weight/looks especially if theyre not on the same team as that
individual (Amy Slater 2011).

Females in todays society as these studies suggest is that there is factors such as culture and
gender roles in which females when they get to a certain age, find themselves going to a point in
which participation in sport is uncool or throughout their experience in sport or physical
participation they have had some negative experiences in which has affected the decision to not
partake in any form of physical activity. They also go through body image issues and feel

inferior when participating with the boys in their class, especially when it starts to get
competitive due to lack of skill or pressure to perform. A study that aims to reengage
adolescent females by using a school-linked community program, the results suggest There
were no significant differences for any PA measure. Intervention completers had significantly
higher scores than non-completers and controls for some mediator variables (e.g. self-efficacy,
behavioural control) (Casey 2014). However exposure to link of the schools PE system and the
community gave a positive effect upon the self-efficacy of the students and to hopefully get them
back on board in physical activity.

More intervention is needed to try and increase the level of physical activity in female teenagers,
with factors that were discussed previously, Education and expose of different sports and an
adaptation of physical education programs may help in their participation rates. Educating
students about the negative impacts of teasing while playing sport either in school or in the
community and the effect it has on an individual. Creating an inclusive environment in the
classroom is an important step to help diminish any false words. To possibly give students more
freedom in what sport they want to play or what sport of activities they enjoy doing and getting
them involved, it has been stated that student were given a choice on what to wear for PE and
got a choice of a few sports to participate in (Fiona Brooks,2006). These little changes and
adaptations can be key in order to get these female participation rates rising and to help diminish
the factors in which theyre facing.

References:
Amy Slater, Marika Tiggemann, 2010, Uncool to do sport: A focus group study of adolescent
girls reasons for withdrawing from physical activity, psychology of sport and exercise, vol 11,
no.1 pp 619-626 <http://ac.els-cdn.com/S1469029210000956/1-s2.0-S1469029210000956main.pdf?_tid=3d0286bc-56da-11e6-8f6600000aab0f27&acdnat=1469940780_42d90b613db17d0b22463ba40a3109d3>
Amy Slater, Marika Tiggemann, 2011, Gender differences in adolescent sport participation,
teasing, self-objectification and body image concerns, Journal of Adolescence, vol 34, no.3 pp
455463 <http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0140197110000989/1-s2.0-S0140197110000989-main.pdf?
_tid=86fe60c4-56da-11e6-aca700000aacb362&acdnat=1469940905_a2981a8c6149206b3eb8d13b2274d1f7>
Johnston, A and Paton 1997, Girls just want to play sport......but why don't they?, Sport health,
Vol. 15, No. 3 pp. 12-14.< http://pd3rz7eg6w.search.serialssolutions.com/?
genre=article&issn=10325662&title=Sport
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Fiona Brooks, Josefine Magnusson, 2006, Taking part counts: adolescents experiences of the
transition from inactivity to active participation in school-based physical education, HEALTH
EDUCATION RESEARCH theory and practice, vol 22, no.6, pp 872-883 < http://0her.oxfordjournals.org.library.vu.edu.au/content/21/6/872.full.pdf+html>
Casey, MM and Harvey, JT and Telford, A and Eime, RM and Mooney, A and Payne, 2014,
Effectiveness of a school-community linked program on physical activity levels and healthrelated quality of life for adolescent girls, BMC Public health, < http://0eds.b.ebscohost.com.library.vu.edu.au/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=9&sid=0c9c4d2e-9167459c-b537-5f0429af1254%40sessionmgr120&hid=119>