Effects of a Sport Education Curriculum on the Positive Social Behavior of At-Risk Rural Adolescent Boys

Abstract

The training of positive social behavior in children and youth holds particular significance in contemporary culture. One setting that holds great appeal for implementing social behavior interventions is public school physical education in which sport education is a part of the curriculum. This study describes the changes in a number of positive social behaviors of a cohort of at-risk adolescent youth during the implementation of a sport education season. Twenty 7th- and 8th-grade boys from a small rural school in the south participated in an experimental subject matter curriculum consisting of a 20-lesson unit of "kangaroo ball." During the latter part of the season, 2 specific fair-play interventions were introduced, and changes in student compliance, interpersonal behaviors, and leadership behaviors were measured. Results indicated that exposure to the curriculum model produced increased student positive peer interactions, as well as accurate self-monitoring by students of their social interactions. Implications for the importance of providing specific prosocial objectives in physical education are discussed in light of this study's findings.