Leisure Activities and Attitudes of Advanced Level Students: a Study based on Urban Schools in Trincomalee District

Leisure activity participation is important in the life of an adolescent as it is the stage in which his or her personality is developed. Since Trincomalee is one of the Districts which was affected by war, fostering positive attitude towards leisure is important to recover from the effects of war. Based on the seminal work done by Hsieh, Spalding and Riney (2004) this study attempts to understand how the free time is used by the youths in G.C.E.(A/L) attached with leading urban schools in Trincomalee Town. Thus, the objective of this study is to determine attitudes of advanced Level students towards leisure participation in four leading schools in Trincomalee District. The following research questions guided the research: What are the leisure activities of the A/L students? What are the attitudes of students towards leisure? How do leisure attitudes influence leisure participation of A/L students? Based on the methodology adopted from Hsieh, Spalding and Riney (2004), The grounded theory method was used to generate the research findings. Five categories of students’ attitudes toward leisure emerged: social interaction, learning seeking, psychological health, physical health and self-advancement which supported the previous works. The results indicated that the A/L students needs influence their attitudes towards the types of activities they participate in. Key Words: Leisure, Leisure Activity, Leisure Attitude, Nee