LEISURE PERCEPTIONS OF ADOLESCENTS

Culture which individual belongs to do effect not only his life style but also his leisure perception, attitudes and behavior. This study focuses on 13 year old adolescent's leisure perceptions, activities and their related feelings considering the gender differences. Data were gathered by survey instrument covering two parts including 3 open-ended questions which were asked to 371 children attending the seventh grade of three elementary schools of Ministry of Education in Izmir (Karsiyaka and Bornova). Descriptive analyze was used. Findings indicated that one-third of the adolescents described leisure "doing nothing and being idle"; half of the males spend time on Internet, some females study for the tests; generally, few participated in sports and social activities. Considering the collectivist values dominating the Turkish society, initially starting with the parents, adolescents leisure awareness should be increased and guided by education.