Leisure time and its management are an important topic that children encounter in the 5th grade of elementary school in the subject of home economics. Leisure time is dedicated to taking care of one’s health, relaxing, and developing skills and abilities that an individual wants to deepen. To manage time successfully, it is necessary to develop an awareness of the importance of spending quality leisure time and the ability to organize time. The way a child spends his time is influenced by many factors, including family, peers, school, and society. We also wanted to find out what parents' opinion is about the importance of leisure time for them and their children, and to what extent parents intervene in their children's choice of spending leisure time activities. Since it is a very important topic, with which even many adults have problems, we decided to use a (semi)structured interview to collect data because this way, we will be able to obtain better quality data on the factors that, according to students and parents, affect the way students spend their free time. Utilizing the research, we will also gain a more precise insight into the opinions of the students about their ability to manage their free time. The results showed that the main factors influencing the use of free time are parents, peers, school, and the availability and variety of choices of free time activities. Both parents and peers can positively influence children’s leisure time by encouraging and supporting them as well as providing a safe and relaxing environment for them. Both factors can also have a negative effect on the child, with a bad example, a negative mindset, and actions that lower the child's self-esteem and confidence in their abilities. With homework and learning requirements, the school can interfere with the free time of children, especially those who have problems with learning or managing their time. Therefore, the amount of free time available to them is reduced. Nevertheless, its curriculum enables them to learn how to manage their free time rationally and to understand its importance. The subject of home economics also serves this purpose, which could be upgraded and highlighted even more when the curriculum is revised. In addition to problems with school, there is also a problem with children's excessive use of digital technology and social networks, which reduces their free time. The results of the conducted research coincide with the findings of previous researches, which show that despite parents' efforts to limit the use of smart devices, students still spend more time in front of them than is recommended by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ). Technology use has also been found to increase with childs’ age. Despite efforts by parents to limit the use of smart devices, they still spend way too much time using them, according to National Institute for Public Health (NIJZ) recommendations. The results showed that parents are aware of the importance of their children's free time, and by interfering with it, they try to make sure that they spend it as well as possible. The results will also make it possible to conclude how we as teachers can contribute to the better development of children's time management skills. A child's free time is crucial for his healthy and positive future, as well as a career path, which in some cases can even sprout from leisure activities. The results of the research will, therefore, also make it possible to conclude how we can contribute to the better development of children's time management skills.
|
