Participation in Extracurricular Activities in Secondary School: What Is Known, What Needs to Be Known?

This content is available through online browsing (free) program dependent on page scan. Screen readers can not currently scan, so please contact JSTOR user support for access. We will provide PDF copy of your screen reader

Student union (also known as student union or related student group) is a course or extracurricular activities for elementary and junior high school students all over the world. These committees are located in most public and private K - 12 school systems in the United States, Canada, Australia and Asia. Like John Dewey originally advocated Democracy and Education (1917), student unions often involve students in learning democracy and leadership. The student council helps teachers and principals share their thoughts, interests and concerns. They also help to collect funds for school-wide activities, such as social activities, community projects, support for people in need, school reforms. Most schools participate in food promotion, fundraising activities, gatherings. The skills that many members learn are extensions of their formal education.

Extracurricular Activities Many schools, especially secondary schools, sponsor various activities such as sports, clubs, performing arts, community service opportunities. In some school districts, future graduates are encouraged or required to conduct community service for a defined number of hours. In addition to going to school, many high school students have a limited time for part-time jobs during the grade. For example, 68% of 12th graders work during the academic year, 77% of students work within 20 hours a week. Food services, grocery store clerks and retail are the most common types of work for high school students. People under the age of 18 are considered minors based on US law, federal and state child labor laws, the type of minors' work, the way of supervision, and the period during which they can work for a fee

Almost all the high schools in the United States offer sort of extracurricular activities such as music, academic clubs and sports. These activities provide students with opportunities to learn teamwork, personal and group responsibilities, physical and endurance, competition, diversity and values ​​of cultural and community awareness. Extracurricular activities provide a channel to strengthen teaching in the classroom and give students the opportunity to apply academic skills in real world. Therefore, this is considered part of comprehensive education. Recent studies have shown that participation in extracurricular activities enhances students' participation and affection to schools, thereby reducing school failures and the possibility of school dropouts (Lamborn et al., 1992; Finn, 1993).