ABSTRACT

This paper explores youth sports parenting in the context of Norway, focusing on the orientations of parents living in predominantly working-class communities, specifically what they believe youth sports are for. Its particular focus is the ideas and resources that underpin the various positions parents in such communities take toward youth sports. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 19 parents of 13 and 14 year olds, we identify two orientations towards youth sports: the belonging orientation, in which youth sports are seen as a means of connecting to a community, and the structuring orientation, in which youth sports are primarily used for protection and to provide frames for children, particularly as a bulwark against excessive screen time and sedentary and unhealthy lifestyles. Despite their differences, both orientations may be seen as articulations of a shared parenting ethos of ‘fitting in’ instead of ‘standing out’, which is aimed at ensuring that children will become decent and able citizens with sound, respectable lifestyles. This parenting ethos differs from the investment and cultivational ethos that guides upper middle-class families’ parenting practices related to sports and other enrichment activities. However, fitting in does not preclude projects of distinction; for some community-oriented parents, engaging in youth sports allows them to stand out as pillars of society.

摘要

本文探讨了挪威背景下的青少年体育育儿，重点关注生活在主要是工人阶级社区的父母的取向，特别是他们认为青少年体育的目的。它特别关注支持此类社区中父母对青少年体育采取的各种立场的想法和资源。通过对 19 位 13 岁和 14 岁父母的定性访谈，我们确定了青少年体育的两个取向：归属取向，其中青少年体育被视为与社区联系的一种手段，以及结构取向。定向，其中青少年运动主要用于保护儿童并为儿童提供框架，特别是作为防止过度使用屏幕时间和久坐和不健康的生活方式的堡垒。尽管存在差异，但这两种取向都可以被视为“适应”而不是“脱颖而出”的共同育儿精神的表达，其目的是确保孩子成为体面和有能力的公民，拥有健全、受人尊敬的生活方式。这种育儿理念不同于指导中上层家庭在体育和其他丰富活动方面的育儿实践的投资和培养理念。然而，适应并不排除有区别的项目；对于一些以社区为导向的父母来说，参加青少年体育运动可以让他们成为社会的支柱。