The Process of Leisure - Essay Example

Leisure Concept Name: Tutor: Subject: Date: Introduction Many people tend to have a lot of free time where they tend to do nothing and hence making them look for something to make them busy at the end of the day. This critique essay will explain some of the major issues that are affected by leisure, and also it will outline the positive and negative impact of leisure. Second, the essay will also analyze the important conditions that are affecting leisure attitudes and recreational choice. Third, it will discuss some of the principles of leisure theory and how they have changed people lives. Fourth, the essay will also contemplate on some of the psychological effects of leisure in society. This essay will focus on two different types of leisure concepts. Pornography and gambling. Body Leisure can simply be defined as the process by which people tend to be free or away from any work or duties. This is where they get a chance for leisure activities such as gambling and much more. There are some good recreational choices such as watching television, reading a novel, going for a picnic and so much more. However, some people tend to choose the bad side of recreational activities like watching pornography movies. When a person has chosen to read a novel or to go out for a picnic, these choices will affect an individual positively since they are excellent choices for leisure. In addition, when an individual chooses to watch pornography, this will affect him negatively since it’s not the best choice for leisure activities. Some of the conditions that are affecting leisure attitudes and recreational choices are such as peer pressure which is found in many school institutions lead to bad influence. Since bad company corrupts good character, the students tend to find something that will make them have fun and avoid stress during their leisure time. This is where some of them choose gambling or even drinking alcohol which will lead to a negative outcome in their lives. In addition, also new technological development has lead to bad choices of leisure activities; you find that people tend to waste a lot of time on dating websites, pornography that lead to bad choices of leisure. The adolescent stage has also affected bad choices of recreational activities. This stage is where teenagers want to know more about the world since they are now becoming adults; you find that some of them chose to date early or even trying to take drugs. Some of the principles of leisure theories are related to an individual’s behavior. These theories help us to understand why recreational opportunities are important and also the impact they bring to us. The flow theory can simply be defined as the process by which a person has physical and mental exercise by stretching or playing. These activities make a person be more focused in life. Another theory is self-determination theory whereby a person can make his or her own decision and choose to live by them. This theory is related to individual’s behavior whereby he or she will choose the best recreational activity for a certain period of time without any interference. At the same time, development theory can be related to an adolescent stage whereby a certain experience can lead to a positive and negative attitude. For example, the introduction of the drug (alcohol) to a teenager can lead to drug misuse or addiction. For instance, prevention theory can be defined as the process by which an individual is helped to come out of a certain problem or even given some precautions before the outcomes. For example, when a teenager is advised not to watch pornography or any other related activities it will help him to know the negative impact of it and hence keeping away from negative thoughts and bad choice of recreational activities. The modern society has helped a lot of people psychologically by advising them on how to choose good recreational activities that will later benefit them in their lives. If a person is addicted due to drug misuse, there are many rehabilitations centers that will enable him to change and quit the addiction. However, it is very hard to explain to the person the reason or the purpose of rehab centers, during this time support from family and society, is encouraged. On the contrary, the government has also helped teenagers by giving them loans so as to start a business and avoid negative thinking. There are many beliefs that have been related to leisure activities. In these days, people tend go for sports centers so as to be trained on how to become a competent athlete, this activity cannot be described as leisure since a person is not free but he is exercising in order to achieve something at the end. Teenagers tend to listen to music by using earphones or loud speakers, this can be categorized as a leisure activity but according to Wilson Smith in 1990s, he suggested that a person is not supposed to listen to high volume music or earphones due to serious health problems such as heart disease or ear infections. The new digital era has lead to the development of many countries and new innovations, but due to the introduction of internet and online websites, it has made teenagers to waste a lot of time watching pornography and other unrelated sites. People believe that leisure activities should not always be done since it doesn’t add value hence a person becomes lazy and idle. However, as stated by John Hopkins the Human and relation psychologist, he opposed that statement by arguing that a person needs to relax and avoid work for a particular time in order to be refreshed and also to gain more energy; a person can only do this by choosing some important recreational activities. Week 11-The dark side of leisure Gambling In this modern society, the dark side of leisure has been described to be the norm of leisure activities. This dark side of leisure covers different activities such as drug use, pornography and gambling (Philip et al. 1977 pg 20-25).Gambling can also be accepted as a dark side of leisure. The society and public at large have already defined gambling as a bad leisure activity. But what could be the harm of gambling? What are some of the opinions that people suggests? As we defined the term leisure, it can also be divided into three different categories thus enjoyment, freedom of making decisions and inherent motivation. This can simply be defined us any activity that a person chooses to follow can be classified as leisure. However, by defining that there are some activities that are seen as leisure, some may have negative effects and are unaccepted by this norm. Yet, there are some of us who deeply want to know those negative effects by practicing them. Leisure can also be used to identify the type of people’s behavior. Gambling can simply be defined as an activity of playing a game for valuable resources such as money (Susan and Kate 2003).So as to simplify the definition of gambling, people should first understand and also accepting gambling as a leisure activity. There are different gambling types such as racing, table casinos, gambling machines and scratched tickets which can be related to recreational gambling (Mary & Smith 2000).In addition, based on these facts I argue that recreational gambling can be described as a type of leisure activities. For instance, in Australia more than 70% of people participate in gambling once a year whereby 3.1% are experiencing gambling problems (Help Guide 2012).However, the society seems to love gambling since is a fun way of passing the time. As discussed above, the gamblers who are experiencing gambling addictions are not referred as taking gambling as a recreational activity. As stated by Hopkins & James (2000) the passion for gambling can be an addictive one depending on the amount of money and resources used in gambling. This can be explained as addiction gambling which can be a direct form of obsession, and an addicted person can be seen when he is gambling he perceives a certain emotion. Therefore, the proof has been outlined that people should try not to be addicted through some of the leisure activities. Gambling can also help people by bringing them closer to interaction and communication. For example, the introduction of poker gambling requires two players in order for them to play. Therefore, as they are continuing to play, they are also communicating and talking about their lives and daily things, they are not there to gamble only. This statement has been justified that gambling can lead to the increase of communication and interaction in society. In addition, it is also an excellent experience where people tend gain more understanding of solving problems since gambling requires reasoning and unique tactics. Gambling can help an individual to gain more knowledge and also increase the capacity of thinking. Gambling as a leisure activity can also increase the economy of the country on the money spent on enjoyment. The health economics defined how people use their limited resource for fun (David& Windsor1990).By saying this, when people gamble they tend to get a lot of profit from it. After they have won the money, they will also decide to spend more on luxuries such as going for a vacation. In spite of all these, gambling also supports the encouragement of social economics. According to Carlos (2011) in China, they think that gambling is a recreational type of joy. In China, New Years are welcomed when family and communities play Mahjong. They believe that as they gamble through the New Year it will bring them luck. This is a type of connection that makes family members and society at large to enjoy. Therefore, recreational gambling is accepted by society as a form of leisure and not the type of addiction gambling. Conclusion As I conclude, this statement “whether gambling is accepted as a leisure activity”? It is still unclear. The acceptable and the unacceptable gambling depend on how people define it as they are playing. Gambling develops a mind of a person since it involves some tactics. It also improves the psychological health of a person since it is a form of entertainment too. Unfortunately, people who are addicted to gambling will have some uncertainties in their regular life. In addition, I support my opinion that recreational gambling is just an individual’s choice to gamble hence entertaining oneself. I strongly believe that controlled and recreational gambling is acceptable since they are harmless. Bibliography Kelly, J. R. (2012). Leisure (No. Ed. 4). Sagamore Publishing. Kleiber, D., Larson, R., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). The experience of leisure in adolescence. In Applications of Flow in Human Development and Education (pp. 467-474). Springer Netherlands. Pinto, G. B., Paulo, E. D., & da Silva, T. C. (2012). The cultural centres as community leisure space: the case of Belo Horizonte. Cultur: Revista de Cultura e Turismo, 6(2), 86-108. Rojek, C. (2013). Capitlaism and Leisure Theory. Routledge. Read More