Organized sport would make boys less rebellious

“The age of 6 to 10 years is a very important window,” explains Linda Pagani, of the University of Montreal, who publishes her results this Tuesday in the journal European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. “Parents still have influence, children don’t have too much homework. It is very important to take advantage of this so that they accumulate other skills through extracurricular activities. »

Boys who play organized sports in elementary school are exposed to a non-parental authority figure, underlines the Montreal psychologist.

During adolescence, when they look for models other than their parents, this socialization experience will allow them to favor adults who are good models, according to her.

The study did not make it possible to make the same findings for girls. “At the beginning of adolescence, it is boys who have problems with opposition and disobedience in the face of authority,” answers M^me Pagani. This is an average, there are obviously more disobedient girls than boys. »

At age 12, girls have more “internalized” problems, such as anxiety or eating disorders, than boys. Organized sport in primary school could also be beneficial in the face of these problems, because it improves girls’ ability to concentrate, according to other studies, and therefore allows them to focus their attention on the positive aspects of their lives, explains the researcher.

Stereotypes

These results are based on a study done with children born in 1997 and 1998. Are the results still valid? “This is the last generation that we could say lived an innocent childhood, where parents could completely be the gatekeepers, the guardians of access to the outside world, during primary school,” she answers. Now, social media offers multiple other sources of inspiration and authority, without parents having much control over these influences. »

According to Linda Pagani, since the arrival of social networks, it is even more important for young people to play organized sports in elementary school. And parents should take advantage of the fact that they still have influence over their children, from the age of 6 to 10, to encourage them to participate in such sports, which can strengthen their resistance to the influence of social networks, she believes.

These expose children to a lot of diversity, but also reinforce certain stereotypes.

The researcher launched this study during a stay at the University of Pavia, in Italy, where the main author, Matteo Privitera, a Calabrian, was also studying. “Matteo was doing his doctorate and had teaching experience at school,” says M.^me Pagani. When I asked what question we should study, he immediately thought of the oppositional behavior problems of boys aged 10 to 12. »

In the study, boys were compared to boys and girls were compared to girls based on whether or not they played organized sports with other children. Behaviors at ages 10 and 12 were self-described by the children.

Screens

The study looked at a cohort of more than 2,000 Quebec children born in 1997 and 1998. “This is the generation just before social media,” notes M.^me Pagani. It was very different, the only external influence was television. My children are that age. Now, with the telephone, children have influences from all over the world, parents have less control. »

Other studies by Linda Pagani and her master’s and doctoral students, on the same cohort, have shown other benefits of organized sports in elementary school, such as better grades in high school, less conflictual social relationships and fewer mental health problems, including less emotional distress in boys at 12 years old.

There is also a link with screens: children who had more restrictions on their screen time at the age of 2 did more organized sports in primary school.

What does Linda Pagani think of the recent debate in the United States about the importance of boys being together in certain circumstances, for example in sports? “For millennia, at different pivotal moments in life, people have come together for activities according to their sex at birth,” she answers. That said, in our study there were no questions about mixed or unisex sport. At that time, girls and boys played soccer separately, for example. And there were few boys in figure skating classes. Mixed classes were more for individual sports, like martial arts. I know, I have a black belt in karate. »