Exploring Parental Perception towards Children’s Activities

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume II, Issue XII, December 2018 | ISSN 2454–6186

Exploring Parental Perception towards Children’s Activities

M. Nazatul Azwanie¹, R. Normala², C. Azlini³, M.Y. Kamal⁴, Z.M. Lukman⁵

^1,2,3,4,5Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu Malaysia

Abstract—This study aimed to identify parents’ perceptions towards children’s activities such as structured games (puzzles, construction toys, swim and soccer), unstructured games (outdoor play, art, craft, dress-up, pretend play and musical play) and screen time (video game, play stations, smart phone and watching movies or TV). The total number of 333 parents in Malaysia who had children aged of three years old and below had participated in this study. The questionnaire was constructed according to the game perception scales. This study adopted descriptive analysis approach and the findings were recorded using frequency and percentage. The findings revealed that the majority of children under the age of three years old spent approximately 2 hours daily in structured games which equal to 27% (n=91). Meanwhile, the time allocated by the children when playing unstructured games was 3 hours daily rank roughly up to 27% (n=90) and 2 hours 28% (n=93) was utilized daily by the children on screen time. Nevertheless, the development of children can be nurtured by playing games whether it is structured or unstructured because children can easily absorb what is happening around them and turned it into a value that they will later learn. Hence, parents play an essential role in shaping the early growth of their children.

Keywords— Children, parents, play time, Malaysia, perception

I. INTRODUCTION

It is typical for children to play as it is crucial for their growth[1]. It is also an opportunity that can be used by parents to connect with their child[2], [3]. It is believed that parents are the first teachers in their life to teach them through playing[2]. The rights of children is being centralized in the year of 1995, February 17th when the government of Malaysia started to acknowledged their rights during the convention related to this issue [4].

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