Youth and Leisure Time Activities

All societies recognise the importance of leisure time activities in the psychological, cognitive, civic, vocational and physical development of young people. That is why most cultures have specified times when young people are let off from formal activities such as work or school in order to engage in various activities of their own preference. Productive leisure is fundamental for both personal as well as social development of young people.

In order to promote youth engagement in productive leisure-activities, it is substantial to first conduct a detailed analysis to understand how youth nowadays spend their leisure-time. The right leisure programs eliminate social ills such as: juvenile delinquency, drug abuse, and other unpleasant behaviors. An engagement of youth in the right leisure activities appears to be higher in developed countries compared to developing countries. Lack of resources like libraries and sports facilities attribute to the lack of leisure activities in developing and undeveloped countries.

Governments are rising up to build recreational centers and parks to facilitate youth in order to curb crime rates and for the positive development of youth. International NGOs and local ones urge youths to take part in volunteerism as a way to keep them off the streets. A lot is being done by the stakeholders and positive outcomes are anticipated to be evident in the near future due to actions on various millennium development goals that are related to this issue.