Here are my interview questions and responses from a teacher at a middle school

 

Population: 6-8th grade Latino children

 

1. Q: What motivates kids (referring to this population) to be physically active?

 

    A: At this age kids are motivated by their peers, social networks are huge and they all want to be part of a group. So if you can get a group to think that

        physical activity is important that would work better rather than reaching out to individuals. It's also important to minimize competition for the average

        kid who is not in sports and wants to be seen as equal to their peers. A large number of kids aren't normally physically active, especially when they don't

        have to be so their needs to be no winners and losers. Another thing that always motivates them is having an activity as an alternative to classroom

        work.

 

2. Q: What has the school done in the past to encourage leisure time physical activity? Has it worked why or why not?

 

    A: Although the school doesn't offer that many sports, because they need more players the teams will often have non-competitive tryouts where

        commitment to the team is more important. That does get a couple more kids to join but hasn't made a big difference for the majority of kids. Another

        event that the kids look forward to every year is the student/teacher soccer game. That does get a lot of kids excited and involved but again there are   

        only a limited number that can actually play in the game. Overall the school hasn't done much.

 

3. Q: What are the biggest barriers to physical activity?

 

    A: Again the most important factor is the peer group so peer buy in is an  important barrier to overcome. Also in the Latino community many of the kids have

        additional family responsibilities that may prevent them from being involved in an activity after school. Often they have to be home to take care of

        younger siblings or they have to walk home before it gets late. In that case a barrier might be the family and other responsibilities. Another thing is as a

        teacher if a student is not maintaining passing grades, their education is a priority over physical activity.

 

4. Q: What works well to encourage behavior change in general?

 

    A: For this age group it is all about freedom to make their own decisions so small things like letting them choose the next activity can get them involved in

        the lesson and not talking to their friends.