Kids with Poor Athletic Skills Are Often Rejected by Their Peers, Says Study

New research reveals that social acceptance with others is often based on a child's athletic skills and abilities, according to a recent press release. Kids who with poor athletic skills are often isolated and suffer social rejection at school. Children who are lonely and isolated are at higher risk of becoming depressed, using drugs, and dropping out of school.

Researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, looked at how athletic ability and social acceptance were connected in school settings. Kids who aren't considered athletic by their peers can find themselves isolated from their peers. They often suffer social rejection at the hands of their peers because they do not have athletic abilities.

It's important, researchers note, to identify and understand the factors that can lead to social rejection. Children can suffer destructive emotional and psychosocial problems that are the result of being rejected by their peers.

Rejection, at any age, hurts and often makes a person sad. Children who experience peer rejection and loneliness are at a higher risk of developing drug and alcohol problems as adolescents and young adults. They are also at greater risk of dropping out of school and being depressed.

Children who are athletic don't report having the same experience. These children are usually picked first for any team games, sporting activities, and feel accepted by their peers. Athletic children don't experience the same loneliness or psychosocial rejection that non-athletic children do.

Past research has found similar problems. When a child is isolated from their peers, they can suffer both emotional, psychosocial, and even health problems. Children who are not athletic suffer from rejection, get less physical activity, and have more anxiety and tension in their lives.