Abstract

This article describes the changes to the leisure activities of young people, which are influenced by technological, cultural and economic changes. New forms of leisure time spent and changes in the popularity of the old ones show changes in the system of values, new approaches to meet the social needs of the young generation. Nowadays within the framework of sociology of the free time, scientists describe the conditions and factors which transform everyday life; the role of social institutions in the scope of leisure and education which form the youth identity; modern leisure activities of different social groups; factors which effect on efficient use of free time by youth. The authors point out that there are a few numbers of conducted researches about the structure and content of the leisure of modern students and youth. Students are relatively numerous, promising, prestigious and the most educated social group of young people, which are the source of skilled workers and the middle class component of the society. The authors carried out the study with the benefits of describing the leisure activities of the students, youth as well as find the changes in those activities structure during the past 15 years. The concept of «leisure practice» is used describing the structure of the free time. «Leisure practice» meant voluntary forms of activities that shape and develop the person identity, promote persons self-expression, self-assertion and self-development through freely chosen actions. The most common «leisure practices» formed and transformed values, socially important needs of the individual and the code of conduct in society. The article presents the results of a sociological survey of students in Kharkiv. The survey revealed the most common types of activities which are those that involve mostly the use of the Internet. For example, they are the familiarity with various types of information, watching movies, surfing social network. Survey found the most common types of the leisure practices and studies the changes in those types of leisure activities are the same during past 15 years. It was found out that the different kind of the entertainment leisure activities dominated in common types of activities rather than athletic or educational forms of activity. In general, students’ common types of activities continue to be the same for the past fifteen years without changes. Traditional forms of direct communication of youth have replaced the virtual ones. As a result this makes young people more physically fragmented, which reduces the risk of deviant practices, but its leads to individualization, replace real social relations with the imaginary ones. The survey revealed decrease in the number of students who reading books, visiting exhibitions, galleries, a theater shows a decrease in requirements for their own cultural development. Decrease of living standards, the students less likely to attend organized sports clubs and artistic groups’ events.