1. The Importance of Recreation for
All Children & Youth BY DAN OFFORD, DIRECTOR, CANADIAN CENTRE FOR STUDIES OF CHILDREN AT RISK
Pay-offs highly participation in recreational activities. them. Thus, it is not just in the interest of
Middle-class parents demand that their chil- poor children for them to have equal access
Recreational programs (non-school skill-
dren have access to first-rate programs in this to recreational activities, but it is in the inter-
development activities in the sports and the
arts) are beneficial to children and youth in domain. est of all children that this occurs.
several ways. They can raise self-esteem
through gains in skills, participants have the A Troublesome Issue Next Steps
opportunity to identify with first-rate role The discouraging fact is that sizeable There are two steps that should be taken
models who are teachers and instructors and groups of economically disadvantaged chil- immediately. First, the financial barrier pre-
involvement in these activities is excellent dren have reduced access to these programs. venting economically disadvantaged chil-
time use for children compared, for instance, For example, data from the first year of the dren should be removed. Second, commu-
to quot;hanging outquot; in malls. National Longitudinal Study of Children nities should quot;keep scorequot; of the extent to
These activities can open up develop- and Youth collected in 1994, indicated that which all children in the community partic-
mental pathways for children and adoles- the rates of quot;almost neverquot; participated in ipate, have sustained participation and gain
cents which will enrich their life quality not the last 12 months in supervised sports was skill levels in the sports and the arts. Each
only during the developmental years but 59.6 per cent among the very poor, and 27.3 child should have a developmental profile in
throughout their life. For example, when per cent among the well-off. non-school skills similar to the report card
children learn to swim, they can commit The barriers to participation of poor on academic progress.
themselves to enriching their skills so that children include first and foremost the cost
they become teachers and instructors in the of these programs. Other barriers are the The Goal
Red Cross program. difficulty with transportation to and from The goal is to have true universality for
Beginning in their teenage years, they the activities, the ordeal of poor children children and adolescents in recreational activ-
can earn money lifeguarding and teaching attending these activities when they are ities. Universality has three criteria; equal
swimming winter and summer. The swim- markedly behind in skill levels compared to access, equal participation and equitable out-
ming skills enable them to participate in their middle-class peers, and lastly, in some comes. The last criterion is the most strin-
activities such as boating and fishing and to instances, outright discrimination of these gent of the three. Equitable outcomes does
engage in these ventures with their spouses children by instructors and coaches. not mean that all children in Canada will be
and children. great swimmers or ballet dancers, but it does
Lastly, there is evidence that a first-rate Why We Should Care indicate that in a genuinely universal pro-
skill-development program in the sports and gram, one would expect the same range of
The exclusion of economically disadvan-
the arts delivered to economically disadvan- outcomes for different groups of children -
taged children from recreational activities
taged children, 5 to 15 years of age, living in rich and poor; immigrants and non-immi-
should have our interest for two reasons.
a publicly-supported housing complex grants; and boys and girls.
First, is a social justice one. It is simply
results in high participation rates and It would be a triumph for Canada to
not fair that poor children, through no fault
impressive gains in skill levels. The reduction have universality in the sports and arts, and
of their own, have reduced access to and par-
in community measures of antisocial behav- to have data to prove that this is the case. •
ticipation in these activities.
iours attributable to the program, such as
The second reason has a self-serving
vandalism rates and police calls, account for About the author: Dan Offord, Director,
flavour. The exclusion of these children from
potential savings that are in excess of twice Canadian Centre for Studies of Children at Risk,
these programs runs the risk of marginalizing
the cost of the program. McMaster University and the Hamilton Health
them, leading to increased rates of antisocial Sciences Corporation, Hamilton, Ontario. He
It is no wonder that all parents value
behaviour and school difficulties among can be reached at ojford@mcmaster.ca