Ocio y usos del tiempo libre en adolescentes de 12 a 16 años en España

Abstract

This article focuses on the uses of free time and on free time practices of schooled 12-to 16-year-old adolescents attending compulsory secondary education in Spain. It presents some of the results of a research project under the National Plan of Scientific Research, Technological Development and Innovation whose main objective was to understand and interpret how school times impact on the socialization processes of adolescents, and the organization of their free time. We have analyzed some of the data obtained from a questionnaire designed ad hoc for students and applied to a sample of 3306 boys and girls of this age group in schools of the seventeen Autonomous Communities that comprise the Spanish territory. Analyses have evidenced the socializing role of digital entertainment, the importance of peer groups and family, evening leisure practices, and adolescents' low participation in social action activities and volunteer work. In addition, we indicate some of the challenges in the educational and social fields concerning the task of educating adolescent free time, as well as the need for a responsibility shared by the various educational agents involved in this process.