How Do Young Adolescents Spend Their Waking Hours at Night

Abstract

This study, conducted in 1997, sought to fnd out what young adolescents were doing at night; whether they were at home and if not, where they were and what they were doing during specific times of the night. The study raised two research questions, viz. what are the types of home environments of the adolescents? And is there enough space for all the members of the family? The sample consisted of 1842 young adolescents from low and middle-income families in the Klang Valley who were still attending school. The children lived mostly in less satisfactory housing in terms of the physical structure be it walk-up flats, high-rises, long houses or squatter houses. The study shows that on a normal evening during school term, most of the children were inside their houses. Only a small proportion remained outside, even till the late hours of the night. Children in the single bedroom flats and long houses slept later as compared to those in the other types of houses. During weekends, many of the children stayed out late in the evening, especially so among those from families living in bungalows, while it was least among children from families living in squatter houses.

Key words: Adolescents, social problems, home environments 

ABSTRAK

Kajian ini yang dilakukan pada 1997, bertujuan meneliti apa yang dilakukan oleh para remaja pada waktu malam; sama ada mereka berada di rumah, atau sekiranya tidak, apa yang mereka lakukan pada waktu tertentu sebelah malam. Dua soalan penyelidikan diajukan, iaitu, apakah jenis persekitaran perumahan yang dialami mereka? Dan apakah terdapat ruang yang mencukupi bagi semua ahli keluarga mereka? Sampel kajian terdiri daripada 1842 responden yang masih bersekolah, dan berosal daripada keluarga berpendapatan rendah dan menengah di Lembah Klang. Tempat tinggal para remaja tersebut didapati tidak memuaskan dari segi struktur fizikal sama ada flat naik tangga, rumah pangsa, rumah panjang ataupun rumah setinggan. Kajian ini mendapati pada sebelah malam hari biasa semasa penggal persekolahan, kebanyakan remaja itu berada di dalam rumah. Hanya sejumlah kecil berada di luar rumah, bahkan sampai larut malam. Remaja yang tinggal di flat satu bilik dan di rumah panjang tidur lebih lewat daripada mereka yang tinggal di rumah jenis lain. Pada malam hujung minggu, ramai remaja berada di luar sehingga lewat malam, khususnya remaja daripada keluarga yang tinggal di rumah banglo, manakala remaja yang tinggal di rumah setinggan paling sedikit bilangannya yang berbuat demikian.

Kata kunci: Remaja, masalah sosial, persekitaran perumahan