More boys than girls taking part in holiday activities

A whole week's holiday lies in front of the municipality's schoolchildren and around 100 activities are offered. Bowling, orienteering or robot programming? Take your pick. Some activities cost money, others are free.

- There is a lot to try, says the municipal Leisure Coordinator Henrik Alvesson.

It is the associations themselves who register their interest in being included in the program before the February half-term. Many youth recreation centres also organise extra holiday activities and at the Regional Museum efforts are being made with, among other things, UFOs on the schedule.

- I think that interest is great among the associations, which want new members. They do this completely voluntarily, says Henrik Alvesson.

But there are differences in which children and young people usually participate in the activities. Most difficult to reach are girls between 12 and 15 years says Sarah Granholm. She has worked as a Project Manager for a government effort in free of charge holiday activities in the municipality.

- We have no statistics from the February half-term before. But what we have seen is that girls aged between12-15 are amongst those who have participated least in previous years when it comes to free of charge summer holiday activities.

In an effort that has been ongoing for three years during the summer holidays, and which in 2018 also included February, Easter, autumn and Christmas holidays, the purpose has been, among other things, to promote integration and get both girls and boys to participate.

- It has been about children and young people with different social backgrounds being able to meet and create new contact areas and have fun. It has been much appreciated, says Sarah Granholm.

In the free of charge activities for children and young people in the summer of 2016, 39 per cent of the participants were girls and 61 per cent boys. The figures changed only marginally in 2017. Clearly, however, the summer of 2018 was something of a break in the trend - then more girls participated than the boys in the free of charge activities.

- Interest has been great because we have been able to offer a variety, says Sarah Granholm.

The effort is now on ice, since the funding was withdrawn from the budget that was axed in the Riksdag in December. But there will still be plenty of holiday activities.

- My wish is that as a parent you bring the children with you. It is an opportunity to try new activities, says Henrik Alvesson.