Influence of parental involvement in the physical activity levels of primary school pupils in Daffodils Primary School

Abstract

Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure. Physical activity is categorized into four groups namely, aerobic activity, bone strengthening, stretching and muscle strengthening activity. Helicopter parenting is predominant in primary school children more so children of high income and high education families. Fantastical parents are parents that are controlling, confrontational and only believe in winning, and often argue with coaches. Parents need to understand that youth sports are not limited to their child alone but to the enjoyment and well-being of all the children involved. Negative comments or action by a parent during game days can also affect the motivation of the children, which may result, to over-anxiety or abandoning the game. The study will be carried out in Daffodil Primary School where the researcher will engage the primary school children. Selected parents will also be requested to contribute to the study. The purpose of the study is to qualitatively assess the influence of parental involvement in physical activity levels of primary school pupils in Daffodil Primary School. The researcher will use descriptive research design to help examine the influence of parental involvement in the physical activity levels of primary school pupils in Daffodils Primary School. This design will help to provide a thorough understanding of parental involvement in physical activity levels of primary school pupils. The researcher will use simple random sampling to deal with the pupils and parents. They will all have a chance of being selected.it will lead to generalization of results, which will also be free from bias.The sampling size of the researcher will include 40 pupils from Primary 5, Primary 6 and Primary 7. The subjects are actively engaged in physical activity. The researcher uses frequency where data shall be on tally. The tally shall help to make the data meaningful to help in processing and making data understandable to future consumers. Questionnaires and face-to- face interviews in acquiring data. The subjects were only requested to tick their options in boxes provided. The pupils were well informed about physical activity and appreciated it. Most parents are contributors to the pupils’ psychological support. The girls were headstrong in airing the views while the boys preferred to tone down. The pupils attest that parents sometimes place them under enormous pressure. This pressure is due to parents-to-parent competition. Parents whose children seem to be losing sometimes get agitated, which causes yelling. This behavior embarrasses the child who starts sobbing in sorrow instead of having fun. Based on the findings, the researcher concludes that parents conditionally involve themselves in physical activity of the pupils. This is due to the parent’s limited knowledge of the benefits of their involvement in the physical activity of their child. Recommendations are 1)Parents should prioritize physical activity of their children. 2) Ministry of education and sports together with physical education teacher must organize physical activity workshops with parents to sensitize them on its importance. 3) Parents must be briefed on the “Fun for everybody” motto, which brings about positive interactions and joy between all persons. 4) Parents must obey the “40yard rule” when the pupils are actively engaged in any activity. This allows the pupil to participate with ease. 5) Child psychologists may be employed by schools to assess the mental states of pupils before and after a physical activity session.