The Role of Family, School, Peers, and the Wider Community in Creating of Free Time for Elementary School Students
The free time of elementary school students is an important developmental resource that can contribute to the formation of personal competencies, creativity, social skills and healthy lifestyles. The aim of the paper is to present and analyze the role of family, school, peers and the wider social community in shaping the quality and content of students’ free time. The research was conducted on a sample of 210 respondents from two elementary schools in the city of Tuzla, students from grades VII to IX, of whom 107 are male and 103 are female. The results obtained show that parents/guardians, as the primary social environment, do not have a major role when it comes to creating free time or the function of completely protecting students from accessing social networks and using modern technologies, nor for the organization and quality of spending time outside of school obligations. In addition to the educational function, the school also has a significant educational function, and through its programs, extracurricular activities and cooperation with the local community it can encourage the constructive use of free time. Peers play a key role in socialization and interest formation, while the wider social community – including cultural, sports and other activities – provides conditions and opportunities for diverse activities. The results indicate the need for an integrated approach, in which the cooperation of all the above-mentioned actors contributes to the stimulating and balanced development of students.