Not Your Typical Classroom: Considering the Socio-Cultural and Crime Perspective to Alternative Education from Boxing Gyms

“ It's an education in learning not to commit crime or antisocial behaviour.”

We interviewed Dr. Deborah Jump, Reader in Criminology at Manchester Metropolitan University and Head of Youth Justice at the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies. She highlights an overlooked area of boxing. “You’d be surprised,” she says, “if you canvassed the wider public and asked, ‘Did you know there are boxing gyms that function as alternatives to mainstream schools, bringing in teachers to offer maths and English?’”

Over the past decade, Boxing gyms have increasingly positioned themselves as alternative education provisions, operating on the sidelines of the official pupil referral unit system. These gyms provide a structured environment for young people who have been excluded from mainstream education, offering them not just training in the ring, but also vital academic support and life skills. Examples include The Boxing Academy, Empire Fighting Chance, The 0161 Project etc. 

“There's trusted adults who can help them write CVs. Help them think about the kind of next steps in terms of their career…They've got a teacher there who's helping them work towards their GCSEs rather than just being out of school and potentially up to no good on the streets. But I do think more investment needs to be made in alternative education to make sure that we're giving disadvantaged young people a really good offer that kind of has parity with mainstream education.”

How should we think about alternatives to mainstream school through boxing? Granted, the kids don’t fit within mainstream school, and that can be for a whole host of reasons. It could be neurodivergency, problems with emotional and behavioral regulation, or mental health challenges like anxiety and depression - all factors that often lead to exclusion from mainstream education. Yet, these young people might not necessarily be aware of why they have been excluded in the first place. 

Many of these young people face significant challenges at home, such as unstable family dynamics, economic hardship, or exposure to violence, which contribute to their exclusion from school. These difficulties often create a sense of disconnection, both from formal education and from society as a whole. Boxing, as a somatic sport, provides a way for them to reclaim control over their bodies and their lives, especially in environments where they may feel vulnerable. In this context, boxing becomes more than just a physical outlet. It offers an opportunity for young people to engage and invest in a kind of bodily capital that speaks to their troubled lived experiences.

In the study ‘Cure de Jour: Exploring the potential of boxing as a mechanism for change among vulnerable groups’ by Deborah and Dr. Amy Blakemore, they found that for young women using boxing as a tool to address mental health struggles, the combination of boxing, community, and mentorship helped them overcome the shame and vulnerability often tied to experiences of sexual violence. Dissimilarly, for young men, as Jump explores in her work Fighting for Change: Narrative Accounts on the Appeal and Desistance Potential of Boxing (2015), masculinity is deeply linked to the body. Boxing provides young men, especially those with a history in the criminal justice system, a way to rehearse masculine versions of themselves. Like young women, who often face violence from men, young men too are both the biggest perpetrators and victims of violence, particularly male-on-male violence. Boxing offers a way for both genders to ward off any victimization. For women, giving them some kind of ownership over the body when they feel like they've been exploited prior and sexual abuse; for men, warding off the potentiality of being attacked on the street by committing to masculinity by investing in physical capital.

Reflecting on what constitutes a ‘good’ alternative to mainstream education that incorporates boxing, Dr. Deborah Jump points out that while boxing gyms offer valuable support, more work is needed to refine and expand these provisions. She notes that 

“I do think that there's more work that needs to be done around these alternative education provisions, which needs to be done around alternative education provisions that don't offer boxing” 

Perhaps emphasising a broader, comparative approach is crucial for creating comprehensive educational alternatives that address both academic and socio-cultural needs, ensuring young people can thrive in ways that extend beyond physical training and academics. A multifaceted strategy is needed, one that helps young people navigate the complex and evolving concepts of identity, trauma, and exclusion from the mainstream, ultimately empowering them to overcome barriers and build a more resilient future.

Follow Deborah on Linkedin @Deborah Jump