Rethinking Young People's Lives Through Space and Place by Anuppiriya Sriskandarajah

Author:Anuppiriya Sriskandarajah [Sriskandarajah, Anuppiriya]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Social Work, Sociology
ISBN: 9781789733419
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
Published: 2020-06-10T04:00:00+00:00

Fig. 2. Border School: Representation.

Note: “I love the school. The school represents our future!”

Source: Notebook of a girl from Border School (2017).

Safety and Security. Of the conversation groups, many still referred to violence and lack of security around the school and neighborhood. Some children said that they have complicated family lives, and that school is “the place where I can be myself!” (excerpt from a girl from Border School). The complex dynamics in which children in this context are immersed makes the institution the best space where they live their lives. Many children expressed a desire to spend all their time in school. Regarding safety, children also referred to school as a space where they can relax, because they feel safe.

However, almost all children referred to the need for more security, not only in and around the school but especially in the region as a whole. Violence goes through the lives of children on a daily basis, which creates an environment of constant fear where “you have to be well connected with everything all the time, in order not to be kidnapped, abused” (excerpt from the speech of a girl from Border School). All the children stated that more security is needed because “it’s dangerous,” “missing child,” “shooting, kidnapping and death,” that a “preschool girl was abused,” “a friend was kidnapped,” and “more control over who picks up children” is needed (excerpts from children’s speeches of the Border School).

Although the context is daunting, considering that it is a territory with children bordering on extreme violence and poverty, the children demonstrated their agency by contributing daily to caring for each other. Children know they need to take care of themselves and they know the carelessness that many children have in their families. Violence acts structurally in the lives of these children, who speak and show how their lives are marked and shaped by the relationships that are established in the face of these issues.

[…] This is not only a systemic problem in that it has its roots outside the individual realm, but also a problem that can be analyzed in the micro-reality of each individual’s “world of life” and in the way it establishes and with whom it establishes relationships, ties, social bonds. (Amaro, 2016, p. 185)

Due to the importance of the institution in the lives of both children and the community, many children referred to the need for greater care with the school. The children were angry that their classmates destroy and ruin the school. Some claim that “children do not value school”; “I am very sad because they (colleagues) do not collaborate”; “ill-mannered students, whining, pushing, disrespecting and doing no lesson”; “Colleagues do not recognize the work of teachers, inspectors and cleaning aunts” (excerpts from the speeches of children from Border School). The notion of care is linked to the idea of space as heritage for future generations.

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