Secondary School Boys Research Articles

The relationship between the perception of own locus of control and aggression of adolescent boys

Aggression is increasingly seen in most parts of South African society. Aggressive behaviour of boys in secondary school often results from frustrations caused by perceived high expectations of others regarding the role, locus of control, and personality of boys. Locus of control plays an important role in a person’s perception concerning a situation and possible reactions to what is happening, or should be happening. A 56-item questionnaire, based on Rotter’s “Locus of control” questionnaire, and the DIAS Scale were used. The questionnaire was completed by 440 boys in Grades 9, 10, and 11. Various factor, item and differential statistical analyses were conducted. Three constructs were identified, i.e. physical, verbal, and indirect aggression. Results indicated that locus of control has a significant influence on verbal and indirect aggression. The differential analysis indicated that contextual variables (language of tuition, age, and grade) play a significant, but not substantial, role in aggression. Furthermore, boys with an internal locus of control are significantly and substantially less aggressive than boys with an external locus of control, with respect to physical, verbal and indirect aggression. Keywords: adolescent boys; aggression; differential analysis; locus of control; perception

Investigating gender differences in mathematics performance and in self‐regulated learning

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate gender differences in mathematics performance and in self‐regulated learning (SRL) in Malta.Design/methodology/approachA representative sample of 400 Grade 11 students (aged 14‐15) attending Maltese mixed‐ability schools undertook a mathematics test and responded to a questionnaire. The resulting performance and SRL measures were used to answer four questions empirically.FindingsGirls performed significantly better than boys (r = 0.2) and this difference is mainly owing to the weaker performance of low‐achieving boys. While all SRL components identified by factor analysis (self‐efficacy, intrinsic value, test anxiety and SRL strategy use) produced a significant main effect on performance, girls reported greater use of SRL strategies, boys claimed to be more self‐efficacious and intrinsically motivated while no significant gender difference was reported for test anxiety. Finally, the students' use of SRL strategies accounts for the differential performance in mathematics of Maltese boys and girls.Originality/valueThis empirical study confirms that gender differences constitute a potentially important source of variation in students' mathematics performance and in their SRL. The issue of increasing the students' use of SRL strategies emerges as a possible strategy aimed at combating gender differences in mathematics performance as well as the underachievement of students, particularly that of the low‐achieving boys in Maltese secondary schools.

키네시오 테이핑 적용이 수영선수의 근력,유연성,경기력과 피로물질에 미치는 영향

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of kinesio taping on the muscular strength, flexibility, performance and fatigue substance of swimmers.The subjects in this study were 13 secondary school boy swimmers. Their muscular strength and flexibility were tested before and after kinesio taping was applied. As for performance and fatigue substance, one player was ruled out for personal reasons, and the other 12 swimmers were divided into two groups. Kinesio taping was applied to one group only, and then the performance and fatigue substance of both groups were checked in crawl-stroke 50m short distance and 400m long distance. The collected data were analyzed with a SPSS 12.0 program. Statistical data on mean and standard deviation were obtained, and paired t-test was carried out to look for any possible changes in the variables. The level of statistical significance was set at α=.05.As a result, the experimental group showed significant improvement in muscular strength and flexibility after kinesio taping was applied. This group also made better progress in performance and fatigue substance than the control group, but the intergroup difference was not significant. The above-mentioned findings illustrated that kinesio taping was effective at bolstering the muscular strength, flexibility and performance of the swimmers and lowering their fatigue substance. Meanwhile, kinesio taping is known to have an effect on non-aquatic exercise, and the findings suggest that it has an effect on swimming as well. This study is expected to help facilitate the diverse application of kinesio taping to improve the performance of swimmers. A combination of kinesio taping and existing swimming training methods is expected to be effective at preventing swimmers from being injured and boosting their performance.

Normative cruelties and gender deviants: The performative effects of bully discourses for girls and boys in school

Since the 1990s the educational community has witnessed a proliferation of ‘bullying’ discourses, primarily within the field of educational developmental social psychology. Drawing on ethnographic and qualitative interview data of primary and secondary school girls and boys, this article argues that the discourse ‘bullying’ operates to simplify and individualise complex gendered/classed/sexualised/racialised power relations embedded in children's school‐based cultures. Using a feminist post‐structural approach, this article critically traces the discursive production of how the signifiers ‘bully’ and ‘victim’ are implicated in the ‘normative cruelties’ of performing and policing ‘intelligible’ heteronormative masculinities and femininities. It shows how these everyday gender performances are frequently passed over by staff and pupils as ‘natural’. The analysis also illustrates how bully discourses operate in complex racialised and classed ways that mark children out as either gender deviants, or as not adequately performing normative ideals of masculinity and femininity. In conclusion, it is argued that bully discourses offer few symbolic resources and/or practical tools for addressing and coping with everyday school‐based gender violence, and some new research directions are suggested.

Study on Gender Differences in Food Habits and Sport Performance among Secondary School Boys and Girls in Sri Lanka

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in English; abstract also in Chinese.
 The objectives of this research were to identify the significant difference between students food habits at different periods of sport activity, to identify gender differences in food habits and to identify sport performance in food habits and, sport performance among secondary school boys and girls. A descriptive survey method was adopted. The situation sampling method (non-randomized) was used to select 10 secondary schools and 100 students (N=100) including 50 girls and 50 boys who are aged between 17-19. Data were obtained by distribution questionnaires to the sample and the data were analyzed using a bi-nominal probability test and Pearson's chi-square test and descriptive method. The mixed results were revealed in this research (both significant difference and no significant difference) in food habits and sport performance. The bi-nominal probability test implies that in the pre exercise period, those who got good food habits shows high level of performance among girls than boys. However for the water intake no significant difference was recorded During the exercise period those who got good food habits instead of showing high level of performance among girls than boys. However no significant difference in other drinks habits. Regarding post exercise period significant difference was recorded with interruptions for food habits and protein intake. Pearson’s chi squire test, shows DF (12) P value = 0.839 twelve cells with expected counts less than 5.0. According to the chi test, no significant difference of sport performance with two habits were found in terms of gender and nature of game (indoor and outdoor). This study also reveals that the food habits of both boys and girls were quite traditional.
 本文旨在探討斯里蘭卡中學生的飲食行為與運動表現，採用問卷形式共調查了一百位男女中學生，結果顯示他們的飲食行為與運動表現都較為傳統的。

A class based health-related physical fitness intervention programme can improve the fitness of secondary school boys

A class based health-related physical fitness intervention programme can improve the fitness of secondary school boys

20世紀初頭日本における中等学校体操に対する軍隊体操の影響：明治38年「体操遊戯取調報告」から大正 2 年「学校体操教授要目」まで

In 1903, the Japanese Ministry of Military Affairs revised the manual of military gymnastics, the so-called taiso kyohan. In 1913, the Ministry of Education formulated the syllabus of gymnastics to be taught in schools, gakko taiso kyojyu yomoku. It has generally been considered that this syllabus was based mainly on the Swedish system of gymnastics. In the present study, I set out to clarify whether many of the gymnastic exercises performed on apparatus (except for hand-tools) as specified in the manual were designed for secondary school boys in the syllabus. The period studied was that from the time when the report taiso yugi torishirabe hokoku, meaning “an investigation of gymnastics, play and games in schools” was published in 1905 by the research committee authorized by the Ministry of Education, until the publication of the 1913 syllabus. The Ministry of Education had planned the syllabus in response to a demand from the Ministry of Military Affairs to formulate a school gymnastics program based on military lines, because the report had proposed the abolition of military gymnastics in schools. My research involved not only the use of general documents but also analysis and comparison of tables describing each phase of the exercises published in the manual, the report itself, and the syllabus, in order to verify relationships among them. Based on the available materials, I concluded it was far from certain that there had been an insistence to include military gymnastics in school gymnastics, in spite of the fact that some military gymnastic exercises were listed in the report. Accordingly, the Ministry of Military Affairs had requested the Ministry of Education to devise a school gymnastics program based on military lines. “Heaving movements”, a component of the original Swedish gymnastics, which had been translated as jyoshi no undo, meaning “arm-movements”, was divided into two parts in the syllabus. One was jyoshi no undo, meaning “arm-movements”, except for exercises performed on apparatus, and the other was the new term, kensui undo, meaning “chin-up movements”, which literally covered a broad range of exercises including chin-ups and pull-ups on gym apparatus, because the two terms kensui undo and cyoyaku undo, meaning “jumping and vaulting movements”, were necessary in order for the syllabus to comply with the demand for military gymnastics. Military gymnastics was one of two main gymnastic systems in the syllabus, because the two partitions were composed of military gymnastics, as was the case for Swedish gymnastics.

Influence of growth spurts in height and weight on development of physical strength of elementary and lower secondary school boys

Influence of growth spurts in height and weight on development of physical strength of elementary and lower secondary school boys

Academic emotions and Its relationship with academic self-efficacy among secondary special school students

Objective To examine the academic emotions and its relationship with academic self-efficacy among secondary special school students. Methods 352 secondary special school students were collected as the subjects.All subjects were tested with academic emotions questionnaire and academic self-efficacy questionnaire and analyzed the result of the test by multivariate analysis of variance,correlation analysis and linear regression analysis. Results Scores on enjoyment,anxiety,anger,depression,total scores on positive-high arousal academic emotions and negative-high arousal academic emotions of secondary special school girls(27.88±3.84,24.77±5.03,18.03±3.37,18.14±3.65,59.33±7.98,57.48±10.49,respectively)were higher than those of boys(26.41±4.55,22.38±5.71,17.01±3.91,16.07±3.94,57.46±9.20,53.45±11.76,respectively),(P<0.05).The academic emotions' differences among different grades of secondary special school students were not significant(F-(1,348)=1.275,P=0.226).The interaction of gender and grade on academic emotions was not significant(F-(1,348)=1.057,P=0.397).Academic emotions and academic self-efficacy was interrelated(r=-0.513～0.685).The result of multiple regression analysis showed that each factor of academic self-efficacy played a significant predictor role on academic emotions(β=-0.631～0.462,P<0.01). Conclusion The academic emotions' differences between secondary special school boys and girls are significant. Academic self-efficacy is closely related to academic emotions. Key words: Secondary special school students; Academic emotions; Academic self-efficacy; Cross-sectional study

‘Girls hit!’ Constructing and negotiating violent African femininities in a working-class primary school

Whenever gender violence and schooling have been the topic of South African research, the investigations focus on African boys in secondary schools. In contrast, this paper focuses on the ways in which violence is mobilized by African schoolgirls in a working-class primary school context. By drawing on selected elements of an ethnographic study of gender in the junior years of primary schooling, the paper examines young seven- and eight-year-old girls’ use of violence as a significant resource in a context of massive social deprivation and economic instability. In such contexts, violence is an important means through which some girls define, create and consolidate their femininities. In the absence of research which focuses on the violent expressions of femininity, this paper argues that within the context of persistent social and economic inequalities which mark South African society, girl-on-girl violence is an important means to secure resources and claims to power.

Cultural Resistance and Resilience amid Imported TV Programming in Nigeria

This experimental study investigated the effects of American-produced entertainment programs on Nigerian audiences' knowledge, beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and values, using the cultural-imperialism theory as a framework. The subject pool for the experiment consisted of 482 senior secondary-school boys and girls in Nigeria, who represent the three major ethnic-religious groups in the country. They were experimentally exposed to American TV programs for several days, while control-group participants were exposed to Nigerian programs only. The results showed that exposure to American TV programs affected the participants' knowledge—but their behaviors, beliefs, values and attitudes, remained unaffected.

Depression, anxiety and stress among Saudi adolescent school boys

This study reports on research to determine the prevalence rates and severity of depression, anxiety and stress among Saudi adolescent boys. A cross-sectional study, of secondary school boys at Abha, Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia was conducted. The systematic sampling method was used to select a class at each level in a school. All the students were informed in detail about the study. The Arabic version of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) was used to establish school-boy levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Results indicated that of 1723 male students recruited to this study, 59.4% had at least one of the three disorders, 40.7% had at least two and 22.6% had all the three disorders. Moreover, more than one third of the participants (38.2%) had depression, while 48.9% had anxiety and 35.5% had stress. Depression, anxiety and stress were strongly, positively, and significantly correlated. It was concluded that there is an urgent need to pay more attention to the mental health of adolescent secondary school boys in Saudi Arabia. Further studies are needed to explore knowledge and attitude of students, parents and teachers concerning mental health.

Psychosocial Predictors of Psychological Distress in Taiwanese Secondary School Boys and Girls

This study was designed to investigate predictors of psychological distress in secondary school boys (n =779) and girls (n = 893) in Taiwan. Participants completed anxiety and depression scales as part of a larger study. Gender, GPA, parenting practices, self-esteem, and personality/satisfaction were significantly correlated with psychological distress. Significant gender differences were found in students' psychological distress, GPA, stereotyped thinking, academic self-expectations, parental expectations, parenting practices, and mother's education level. Stepwise regressions revealed that self-esteem was the only significant predictor for boys; it accounted for 40.9% of the variance in their psychological distress. GPA, family income, self-esteem, and parenting practices were significant predictors for girls; they accounted for 42.6% of the variance in girls' psychological distress. Research recommendations and educational implications are discussed.

Physical Fitness Level For Improving Mat Exercise Performance In Child And Youth

The levels of physical and motor ability for improving fundamental motor performances in children and youths need to be investigated for the development of sound PE program. PURPOSE To determine the levels of test performance of physical fitness for improving mat exercise performances in children and youths. METHODS A questionnaire on mat exercise performance and physical fitness measurements including Japan Fitness Test were carried out with 5086 girls and 5639 boys in elementary and secondary schools, aged 6 to 18 years old. Improvements of 5 kinds of mat exercise were investigated on the 5 questionnaire items with 2 options. Muscle strength, muscle endurance, muscle power, flexibility, agility, sprint and aerobic endurance were measured by using 7 performance tests of grip strength, situps, standing long jump, sit and reach, lateral side step, 50m-dash, and 20m-shuttle run for children and youths. Applied tree-based method by CART analysis of data mining technique utilized to analyze the levels of physical fitness test performance for improving their mat exercise performances on application software of Answer Tree release 3.1 J. Depth of the trees was set in stage 2. Gini-index was used as the evaluating function for classification by the tree. RESULTS The split values of the first and second split variables of the classification tree model of each mat exercise item on physical fitness tests were obtained by CART analysis. The classification rates of the first split variables of all mat exercise items ranged from 64% to 78%. The estimated error rates for ranged from 4% to 38%. The physical fitness performance level for improving rate 83% of split roll of mat exercise was 35 reps in 20m-shuttle run test and 16 kg in grip strength test for girls, and in boys 38 reps in 20m-shuttle run test and 8.3 sec in 50m-dash for improving rate 84%. CONCLUSIONS The levels of physical fitness test performance for improving mat exercise in children and youths were statistically determined.

Physical Fitness Level For Improving Mat Exercise Performance In Child And Youth

The levels of physical and motor ability for improving fundamental motor performances in children and youths need to be investigated for the development of sound PE program. PURPOSE To determine the levels of test performance of physical fitness for improving mat exercise performances in children and youths. METHODS A questionnaire on mat exercise performance and physical fitness measurements including Japan Fitness Test were carried out with 5086 girls and 5639 boys in elementary and secondary schools, aged 6 to 18 years old. Improvements of 5 kinds of mat exercise were investigated on the 5 questionnaire items with 2 options. Muscle strength, muscle endurance, muscle power, flexibility, agility, sprint and aerobic endurance were measured by using 7 performance tests of grip strength, situps, standing long jump, sit and reach, lateral side step, 50m-dash, and 20m-shuttle run for children and youths. Applied tree-based method by CART analysis of data mining technique utilized to analyze the levels of physical fitness test performance for improving their mat exercise performances on application software of Answer Tree release 3.1 J. Depth of the trees was set in stage 2. Gini-index was used as the evaluating function for classification by the tree. RESULTS The split values of the first and second split variables of the classification tree model of each mat exercise item on physical fitness tests were obtained by CART analysis. The classification rates of the first split variables of all mat exercise items ranged from 64% to 78%. The estimated error rates for ranged from 4% to 38%. The physical fitness performance level for improving rate 83% of split roll of mat exercise was 35 reps in 20m-shuttle run test and 16 kg in grip strength test for girls, and in boys 38 reps in 20m-shuttle run test and 8.3 sec in 50m-dash for improving rate 84%. CONCLUSIONS The levels of physical fitness test performance for improving mat exercise in children and youths were statistically determined.

School Adjustment Among Boys and Girls of Secondary Schools in the Perspective of their Socio Economic Status, Parent-Child Interaction and Emotional Maturity

The main purpose of the present study was to examine school adjustment among secondary school boys and girls in relation to their socio-economic status, parent-child interaction and emotional maturity. It was found that the students having high parent-child interaction have significantly better school adjustment.

Internal consistency, convergent validity and reliability of a brief questionnaire on disordered eating (DEQ).

Clinical interviews are considered the gold standard for the evaluation of the specific psychopathology associated with eating disorders. However, there are situations in which brief but valid and reliable self-report questionnaires can be helpful. For this reason, we have developed a new questionnaire, called the DEQ (Disordered Eating Questionnaire), brief enough to be used in epidemiological screenings, that evaluates the frequency and intensity of disordered eating attitudes and behaviours within a time frame of three months and addresses face valid questions to the general population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the dimensionality, reliability and convergent validity of this questionnaire. The DEQ was filled in by Italian secondary school girls and boys, together with the Contour Drawing Rating Scale (CDRS) and with the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26). The results showed a single component that explain a portion of variance of around 36%. The reliability of the scale is highly satisfactory. The scale is also valid, since scores on the DEQ scale are significantly and highly correlated with body dissatisfaction, measured by the CDRS, with body mass inex (BMI) and with all the subscales of the EAT-26. As expected, there were gender differences, given that DEQ scores were higher in females than in males.

Factors Related to Smoking Habits of Male Adolescents

A cross-sectional study was conducted to identify the factors related to smoking habits of adolescents among secondary school boys in Kelantan state, Malaysia. A total of 451 upper secondary male students from day, boarding and vocational schools were investigated using a structured questionnaire. Cluster sampling was applied to achieve the required sample size. The significant findings included: 1) the highest prevalence of smoking was found among schoolboys from the vocational school; 2) mean duration of smoking was 2.5 years; 3) there were significant associations between smoking status and parents' smoking history, academic performance, perception of the health hazards of smoking, and type of school attended. Peer influence was the major reason students gave for taking up the habit. Religion was most often indicated by non-smokers as their reason for not smoking. Approximately 3/5 of the smokers had considered quitting and 45% of them had tried at least once to stop smoking. Mass media was indicated as the best information source for the students to acquire knowledge about negative aspects of the smoking habit. The authors believe an epidemic of tobacco use is imminent if drastic action is not taken, and recommend that anti-smoking campaigns with an emphasis on the religious aspect should start as early as in primary school. Intervention programs to encourage behavior modification of adolescents are also recommended.

Factors related to smoking habits of male adolescents.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to identify the factors related to smoking habits of adolescents among secondary school boys in Kelantan state, Malaysia. A total of 451 upper secondary male students from day, boarding and vocational schools were investigated using a structured questionnaire. Cluster sampling was applied to achieve the required sample size. The significant findings included: 1) the highest prevalence of smoking was found among schoolboys from the vocational school; 2) mean duration of smoking was 2.5 years; 3) there were significant associations between smoking status and parents' smoking history, academic performance, perception of the health hazards of smoking, and type of school attended. Peer influence was the major reason students gave for taking up the habit. Religion was most often indicated by non-smokers as their reason for not smoking. Approximately 3/5 of the smokers had considered quitting and 45% of them had tried at least once to stop smoking. Mass media was indicated as the best information source for the students to acquire knowledge about negative aspects of the smoking habit. The authors believe an epidemic of tobacco use is imminent if drastic action is not taken, and recommend that anti-smoking campaigns with an emphasis on the religious aspect should start as early as in primary school. Intervention programs to encourage behavior modification of adolescents are also recommended.

Smoking among secondary-school boys in Bahrain: prevalence and risk factors

To determine the prevalence of smoking among male secondary school students in Bahrain and to identify their risk factors for smoking, we surveyed a random sample of students by questionnaire. The prevalence of smoking was 26.6%, 25.5% and 25.4% among first-year, second-year and third-year students respectively. Cigarettes (21.0%), water-pipes (13.0%) and cigars (1.6%) were popular. Smokers and non-smokers had similar socioeconomic profiles, but differed in degree of disapproval of smoking shown by close contacts and whether close contacts were smokers. The prevalence of smoking among male secondary-school students in Bahrain did not decline despite intense anti-smoking efforts in the last decade, perhaps indicating the effectiveness of tobacco advertising and promotions that target youth.