The master's thesis focuses on exploring the views of parents regarding the involvement of their children in organised activities and the experiences of young adults who were involved in one of the organised activities in their childhood and came from a family with a low socio-economic status during that period. Low socio-economic status can represent an important obstacle in an individual's life and may affect the entire family system, especially the opportunities that children and adolescents have. Theoretical findings show that the involvement of children in organised activities can have a positive effect on their development, development of competencies, social skills, etc., and it also offers children a space where they can prove themselves and have success. All the above is especially important for children who come from families with low socio-economic status. In the empirical part, we used a combined approach. Through a quantitative research approach, we compare parents of different socio-economic statuses, and we discover how such background influences to which extent the children are involved in organised activities, parents' views and the reasons for including or not including their children in organised activities. Through a qualitative research approach, we examine how young adults retrospectively view their experience of participating in an organised activity. The results of the quantitative research show that parents with low socio-economic status and parents with medium or higher socio-economic status share very similar views regarding organised activities and the reasons for involving their children in such activities. At the same time, it turns out that parents with low socio-economic status, despite similar views, include their children in organised activities in terms of statistical significance less than those who do not have low socio-economic status. The qualitative part of the research points out that the socio-economic status of the family may limit the child's choice of activities, and in some cases, it may even prevent involvement in such activities. Children are aware of financial obstacles in the family, therefore they may face negative emotions, such as guilt, in connection with involvement in organised activities.
We see the value of the findings in the possibility of a better understanding of families with low socio-economic status, as well as how important it is to involve children in organised activities and how important role such activities play in the life of an individual. In our work, social pedagogues encounter a lot of children and adolescents, especially vulnerable groups, including those who come from families with low socio-economic status. That is why the research is topical for our profession.
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