These findings indicate that utilizing the Sport Education model may provide campers with higher levels of PA within this context.

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Purpose: To evaluate children’s physical activity (PA) levels, social play behavior, activity time, and social interactions during unstructured time. Approach: Systematic observation tool to record child’s PA level, social group size, activity type, and social interaction during play. Setting: Northeast US residential summer camp, pseudonym Forest Hills Camp. Participants: Fifty-nine third-grade campers (27 males and 32 females). Method: Observational data were obtained using the System for Observing Children’s Activity and Relationships during Play (SOCARP). Data were analyzed using independent samples t tests (with Bonferroni adjustment) to assess statistical differences between boys and girls SOCARP categories. Results: Both boys and girls spend over 50% of their time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Statistically significant differences between genders were observed: activity level—(a) girls sat more than boys, and (2) boys engaged in more vigorous activity; activity type—(1) boys engaged in more sport activity, girls engaged in more locomotion activity, and girls were more sedentary; and social interactions—(1) boys had more physical conflict, and (2) boys had more verbal conflict. Conclusion: Contrary to previous research suggesting that summer campers have increased sedentary behavior during unstructured time, our results indicate that third-grade campers engaged in MVPA over 50% of their unstructured time. This suggests that unstructured time in outdoor camp settings may provide valuable opportunities for adolescent children to choose PA.

Popular social media platforms have faced recent criticism because of the tendency for users to exhibit strongly negative behaviors, threatening the open, prodemocratic discourse that proponents believe was made possible when social media sites first gained widespread adoption a decade ago. A conceptual model suggests that the microblogging site Twitter, and especially sport-themed debate through hashtags, can still realize these ideals. Analyzing a dataset of tweets about the firing of former Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling by ESPN on April 20, 2016, as well as a qualitative questionnaire given to the users of the hashtag, this study attempted to ascertain how closely the discourse comes to realizing the ideal of the Habermasian public sphere. The findings demonstrate that although users draw value from participation in the discussion, they are less inclined to desire interaction with other hashtag users, particularly those who disagree with them. This suggests that Twitter hashtags provide an open forum that approaches the participatory requirement of the public sphere, but the lack of back-and-forth engagement suggests the medium is not ideal for the generation of deliberative public opinion.