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Final Report

Leisure time activities of educated youth: An ethnographic study of Islamabad and

Rawalpindi.

Submitted to: Dr. Inam-ullah Laghari

Submitted by: Shehrbano

Department of Anthropology

Quaid-e-Azam University

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Leisure time activities of educated youth: An ethnographic study of

Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

Introduction:

Youth has received increasing attention in the last couples of decades at international as well as

national level, with the realization that youth can play a crucial role in the development of the

society. Recognizing the youths potential and capacity, in many countries youth has been called

a national asset. In the developed countries, much attention has been given to youth development

by conducting intensive research as well as planning and executing different programs for youth.

However, in the developing countries like Pakistan, this area has received less attention.

The role of youth cannot be underestimated in Pakistan as a large majority of the population of

the country consists of young people. For example, according to UNDP, in Pakistan 63% ofpopulation falls under the age of 25 years. This means that the youth is a crucial demographic in

the country. This huge energetic population needs opportunities for actualizing their potential

and capabilities to contribute in the development of the country.

Statement of the Problem:

What are the Leisure time activities of educated youth?

Objectives:

To identify ways in which youth spends its leisure time and to enlist the activitiesadopted by youth for spending leisure time.

To find out youths opinion about these activities. To explore the relation between the time spent on leisure activities and socio-economic

background of youth.

To highlight the role of gender effecting the time spent on leisure activities. To understand harmful effects of leisure time activities.

Locale:The research was conducted in Rawalpindi and Islamabad and the data is collected from the

following universities:

PMAS: Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi

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The Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture is located in Shamsabad, Muree Road

Rawalpindi. The university consists of seven Faculties and almost thirty departments

divided in to the above mentioned faculties.

Sample:

The sample collected by the researcher was from the Faculty of Sciences specifically in

the Department of Anthropology, Sociology and Bio-Informatics.

The sample collected through these departments consisted of fifteen students from eachclass which altogether makes the sample size of forty eight (48) students both male and

female.

The questionnaire was administered among the sample which consisted of fifteen open

and closed end questions and one activity chart. The questionnaire was also filled by the

key informants who were also their Class Representatives.

From these key informants an interview was also conducted, as well as a focus group

discussion with the sample students.

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Bahria University, Islamabad

Bahria University is located on Shangrilla road, E-8 Islamabad. This university consists

of seven faculties and several departments within these faculties.

Sample:

As the university did not contain separate departments for Anthropology and Sociology,

and as the research was usually of a general purpose and focused on the youth, the

researcher collected the data from the three different faculties and their departments of

Computer Science, Geology and Electrical Engineering.

The sample consists of fifteen (15) students from each department including girls and

boys.

The method of research was the same. With a questionnaire as well as interviews from

the key informants and focus group discussion with the selected sample.

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International Islamic international University

The International Islamic University is located in H-10 Islamabad. This university consists of

different campuses for girls and boys but the faculties are the same which are nine with

several departments.

The research conducted was in the girls campus as the researcher was not welcome in the

boys campus.

Sample:

The sample consists of fifty eight (58) students from the department of Psychology,

Sociology and Islamic Art & Literature. The questionnaire was administered as well as

interviews of the key informants and focus group discussion with the sample.

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National University of Modern Languages (NUML) Islamabad

NUML is located at Sector H-9/1 Khayaban-e-Johar Islamabad. It consists of a total of nine

faculties and thirty two departments within these faculties. The research was conducted in the

department of Social Science.

Sample:

The sample for research was collected in the Social Science departments of Education, English

and Psychology. The sample size consisted of almost 30 students.

FINDINGS:

The young people predominately like to hang out with their friends. The use of mobile phones is rampant among the youth despite their academics pressure. Girls hang out with their friends more than the boys. There is a lot of difference in the environment of the aforementioned universities and

such differences also exist in the behavior and activities of youth in these universities.

The youth are a considerably more frustrated people than other segments of society. The youth do not want to accept responsibilities. The class and family state also effect the leisure time of activity of youth as the young

people with more affluent families like to perform more leisure activities then other

average ones.

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Data collected through the Questionnaire:

The majority of the youth considers leisure time to be free time, a time in which they can do

things that appeal to them as opposed to the rest of the day. Some consider leisure to be

activities carried out other than their day-to-day duties such as education or chores etc. This

would mean that the youth considers their daily activities to be imposed on them by their parents

or societal concerns and leisure activities are the ones which they take a hearty interest in.

Most of the youth does not have a definition for leisure time and defined it as a list of their

leisure activities for instance watching TV or playing games. Others defined it as activities which

appeal to them in a time period of their choosing.

There is no actual criterion for differentiation between leisure activities and academic ones.

Leisure activities are playing games while academic activities are preparing for tests. This

would mean that leisure is a highly subjective concept and different individuals have different

definitions of leisure. We can also reason that leisure is ultimately something you like to do andfor some studying also becomes a leisure activity.

Academic activities are considered more useful. This is the majority view. A small group accords

them both equal importance. No one considers it to be of more importance. This would display a

somewhat utilitarian attitude towards leisure. Leisure is wasteful academic activities are not.

The youth believes that currently young people are more indulged in leisure time activities more

and different opportunities available to them as compared to the past. As to what these

opportunities are we dont know.

A major population of the youth finds leisure time activities to be healthy and finds no harm inthem. The remaining considers them not that harmful but not that healthy either. Again we see a

sort of utilitarian attitude. Leisure is not an end in itself but is rather judged by standards of

usefulness. So there is good leisure; reading books, researching stuff and there is bad leisure;

social networking, watching movies, playing games etc.

There is a high level of frustration among the youth on several issues like lack of basic facilities,

lack of jobs, terrorism, poor law and order situation, generation gap between their parents etc. So

many adopt leisure time activities to overcome these frustrations while some do them just for

fun.

Interestingly no one complained of any peer pressure on them to adopt any certain leisure time

activity. They consider themselves free to adopt any leisure time activity they want.

Since there is a constant utilitarian attitude towards leisure it should come as no surprise that

leisure is adopted to overcome the aforementioned frustrations and intriguingly some activities

even boost that frustration. They did not answer as to what these activities were.

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Usually the families do not support their leisure time activities because they are considered a

waste of time, money and energy but on the other hand some families support a healthy leisure

activity for their children while some do not even bother about what their youngsters do.

The youth is divided on the question whether economic status affects ones leisure time activities.

The children of poor or middle class families are very careful in spending their money on leisuretime activities while rich kids have no such qualms. The money they spend on the leisure time

activity is their pocket money which they get at the start of every month, and very few get extra

money for these activities. They spend at least on an average at least a 1000 Rs. on leisure time

activities.

The leisure activities of the youth are divided on several lines. Children of, for instance, religious

families have different leisure time activities than their secular peers. The rich have different

leisure activities than the poor and not just activities but concepts of leisure are different on

each side of the divide.

Regardless of these differences we can see a common theme pervading the youth; an idea that

transcends these differences and that is the principle of utilitarianism i-e judging the value of a

thing by its practical or material benefits. By this definition leisure is ultimately a useless thing

that must only be done so that societal frustrations can be overcome. Perhaps one of these

societal barriers is getting an education as evident from their definition of free time.

No one has listed volunteer work or looking after pets as their leisure time activity which would

show a somewhat narcissistic outlook which is obvious from their claim of being free from peer

pressure even though other studies show exactly the opposite.

Thus for the educated youth of Pakistan, specifically Islamabad and Rawalpindi, leisure is a

highly subjective, utilitarian concept that is more of a means to an end.

Collection of Data through activity chart:

An activity chart along with the questionnaire was also administered among the selected

sample which consisted of several activities.

The main aim of this Activity chart was to know what activities youth do more and regularly, the

data collected through this activity chart is graphically represented as under:

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Interpretation of activity chart:

The data shows activities that are carried out more frequently. After collecting this result these

activities were further divided in to sub-categories of male and female and physical and non

physical activities.

Physical activity will be defined in this study as any activity that requires a minimum amount of

bodily exertion. Under this definition activities such as sports, racing, hiking etc. would be

considered physical while watching TV would be considered non-physical.

MALE FEMALEPHYSICAL

ACTIVITIESNON-PHYSICAL

ACTIVITIESPHYSICAL

ACTIVITIESNON-PHYSICAL

ACTIVITIES

Cricket Facebook Exercise (Indoor) Facebook

Exercise (Gym) Twitter Household Chores Twitter

Football TV Outings (with

families)

Music

Household Chores Movies (Cinema) Reading

Outings (as groups) Socializing Socializing (Specific

places)Restaurants Use of Internet Use of Mobile Phone

(Chatting)

Music Indoor Games

(mostly board games)

Data collected from Interviews:

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Yes NO

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The key informants were interviewed who were usually the class representatives, but the

participants were also welcome. Almost all key informants from each sample were selected for

interviews. The interviews were recorded by the permission of the participants and they will be

provided by the researcher on the time of report submission.

The following are the questions and the main points of the interviews:

Q1: In your opinion the questionnaire which was filled by the students, did they fill them

honestly and properly?

Some have filled them honestly. Some just for fun. 40% correctly, while 60% have just to rid themselves of it. It depends whether the student was serious or not.Q2: Are the opportunities provided to youth for leisure time activity several or few?

The opportunities for youth are more because their nature is adaptive and get used to athing very easily.

Some say they are less because of certain issues, like lack of permission, more studyburden etc.

More because time is less and people are more busy in their lives. Youth has more opportunities because of the globalization and advancement in new

technology.

Q3: Are there any similarities in the leisure activities of the youth of developed and under-

developed countries

They are no differences because youth all over the world is the same. There is a difference because the youth of developing countries have the additional

burdens of different responsibilities on them.

They are similar because the opportunities are more or less the same.

Q4: What opportunities should be provided to youth for more leisure activities?

They should be given a free hand with money. Transport facilities should be provided. Parents should not be that strict. They should have more opportunities for taking part in games and sports etc.

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Q5: What intervention should be made by the government, family or society to promote more

healthy time activities among the youth?

Behavior of parents should be more flexible. No extra burdens should be placed on the youth. A more positive environment should be promoted. Parents should allow social networking. Government should promote activities popular among the youth. More places for healthy activities.

Q6: Is there a relationship between physical well being and leisure time activity?

If one has a sound mind and a sound body then one can do anything. A relationship exists because if you have good health then you will have healthy leisure

time activities.

Data collection through focus group discussion:

A group discussion was done among the selected students which included both boys and girls.

The discussion lasted half an hour, the researcher played the role of leader and tried her very best

to maintain discipline.

The following is the data collected through this discussion:

The girls claimed that their activities included household chores, shopping, texting, hanging out

with friends and personal grooming (which includes going to parlors, spas etc.) the boys claimed

to do whatever they liked. This whatever is also considerably restricted but of course it meant

greater freedom than the girls. The reason for this is that girls are bound by cultural, religious

and familial influences and a patriarchal social structure. Boys are relatively free although they

still claimed to be restricted by religious and cultural values. This would show a little rebellion

on the part of the boys. Another factor is the rural or urban background of families as urban

youngsters have gained more exposure as opposed to people with a rural background. Class

difference greatly influences leisure time activities. Upper class girls and boys are comparatively

free to do what they want with minimum restrictions. Upper class children are not so rebellious

as their peers. They simply have more permission to do what they like.

Problems:

The non-serious behavior of the students. Low level of cooperation by the administration as well as students. The difference in the timings of classes.

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Gathering and making students sit for the focus group discussion was a challenge. Getting documentary proof like pictures and recordings was also difficult. Some of the universities were having their exams and some were closed while the

researcher conducted the research.

Transportation for the researcher was difficult.