Adolescents abandon extracurricular activities when they need them most

When Maria (19 years old) started her first year of high school, she dropped all her extracurricular activities: “I was so stressed that just thinking about the hours I would have to dedicate to them made it clear to me, but it was a terrible decision; before the end of the course, I started to feel anxious, I spent the day studying”, she recalls. Now that she is finishing her first year of physiotherapy studies, she admits that she would do it very differently. In fact, when he started second year of high school, he picked up an extracurricular activity again, and little by little he found the balance between studying, leisure, spending time with friends, and taking care of himself. “I dedicated fewer hours to studying but I was more productive and happier”, she states. The false time thieves

What happened to Maria is common: adolescence arrives and the number of hours dedicated to extracurricular activities plummets. “Often the changes start with the type of extracurriculars they do in secondary school, which tend to be more geared towards training”, comments Òscar Bretau, emotional counselor and coach at Escola IPSE in Barcelona. In general, English and sports practice are the most widespread, although girls dedicate fewer hours to physical activity. During high school, when students tend to feel the pressure to achieve good academic results, it is recommended to “find a certain balance between studies and extracurriculars.” We must stop believing that “tivities done outside of class time are a waste of time,” points out Bretau. But he also adds that we cannot lose sight of the fact that a brain that is too busy and stressed does not perform adequately. “If all free time is used to achieve goals, performance will decrease and they will self-sabotage.” Besides recommending extracurriculars that can be a breath of fresh air, Bretau recalls the importance of doing nothing and sleeping a minimum of eight hours: “It is impossible for them to perform if they have not rested enough.” Fewer group activities and more 'scrolling'

Joan Carles Folia, educational advisor and coach, explains that it is common for young people to stop doing extracurricular activities upon reaching adolescence: “Around 11 or 12 years old, social bonds change, there is a hormonal explosion, and their interests begin to change”. Bretau also believes that there are significant differences between this generation of adolescents and previous ones: “Now they have the infinite scroll at their fingertips, which is very harmful to all brains but especially to the adolescent brain”. Technology, which is now presented as an alternative for non-class hours, attracts more attention from adolescents than any other sports, cultural, or leisure activity.

Bretau considers that, despite a fairly widespread footballization of adolescence, there are young people who in secondary school and especially in high school stop playing team sports and replace them with the gym, which implies less commitment and dedication. This is what Jan (16 years old) has done, who quit football this course, halfway through 4th year of secondary school: Families are usually worried that their children are not doing anything productive during non-school hours and that they are not under their supervision, but, according to Bretau, gymnastics can involve other aspects that should be taken into account: “Young people are constantly receiving inputs about the importance of a specific physique, and this perception of aesthetics and the cult of the body from such a young age is worrying. They stop doing activities with a collective commitment and many try to respond to aesthetic demands that can be harmful”, warns this educational advisor. The type of extracurricular activity

When pressure for results grows and there is less free time, what should be taken into account when choosing leisure activities? For Folia, it is most recommended that the activities done during free time be diversified and that when choosing, it is taken into account that they have a good time doing the extracurricular activity; otherwise, technological leisure will always come first: “After high school, motivation is low. No matter how much formative extracurricular activities are planned in a recreational way, they are more of the same, it is difficult for them to be fun and for them to learn, and hence the importance of choosing activities that are different from academic life, which will guarantee more motivation.”

Bretau understands that families prefer their children to do extracurricular activities, but they should be more than just an occupation and not involve over-training or over-stimulation. He insists on the importance of understanding the needs of this age group and that extracurricular activities can help cover possible emotional, self-esteem, or group belonging deficits. Extracurricular activities can be especially useful for young people who have problems integrating or feeling part of the group because their academic performance is not as expected: “They can feel fulfilled and find their place by doing an extracurricular activity, where sometimes the type of activity is not as important as how it is directed,” notes Bretau. Professionals recommend that families encourage their children to participate in activities that help them socialize, generate interest, and are preferably linked to non-sedentary activities. “There is no need to force them, but it is advisable to talk about the advantages of doing something away from academic activity, give them arguments about the benefits of practicing some physical activity and foster human relationships”, concludes Folia.