Examination of the Social Skills Levels of Students Participating in Recreative Activities

Abstract

People are social beings and therefore they interact with each other in society. While interacting, their social skill level is also very important in terms of expressing themselves. The aim of this study is to determine the social skill levels of secondary school students who participate in recreational activities. The population of the study consists of students studying at secondary school in the central district of Çorum province. The sample consists of 361 students participating in recreational activities determined by simple random sampling method. The data collection tool consists of two parts. In the first part, the "Personal Information Form" was used by the researcher to determine the demographic information of the students. In the second part, there is the "Social Skills Assessment Scale for Children", which was developed by Matson, Rotatory and Hessel in 1983 and adapted into Turkish by Bacanlı and Erdoğan in 2003. The Social Skills Assessment Scale for Children is a 5-point Likert-type scale consisting of 47 items and two sub-dimensions. Its sub-dimensions are 'positive social behavior' and 'negative social behavior'. Considering the results of the analysis, no significant difference was found between the students' gender, licensed sports status, and the educational status of their parents and their social skill levels. There was a significant difference in the "Negative Social Behavior" sub-dimension according to the age and class variables. While it was seen that the age and class variable of the students participating in recreational activities affected their social skill levels, it was concluded that the status of doing licensed sports, gender and parental education did not have an effect. In the light of this information, it can be concluded that the level of social skills in secondary school students does not change according to demographic characteristics in general.