Child’s play in and out of School: Bodies control of Slum Children

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the most common child’s play of students (approximately seven years old) both during the playtime and the time they are not at school, also considering the teacher’s interpretation of the child’s play practiced in the school, located in a small slum of the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte. In this way, the analysis considered the issues that involve the recognition of the essentiality of childhood (Dahlberg, Moss, & Pence, 2003; Sarmento, 2007), in the context of the reality and affectivity of children in the place called slum (Coelho, 2007; Perez & Jardim, 2015, Tuan, 1983), as well as in aspects that demonstrate the control of their bodies through the child’s play performed in the school (Brighente & Mesquida, 2011; Foucault, 2009). As a methodological basis, participant observation was chosen because it was believed that from this practice it was possible to extract important experiences and reflections from the research participants, know our actions and, by observing these people, their behaviours and attitudes in routine situations (Lüdke & André, 1986). The results suggested that the slum children’s play, both in school and outside, are different among boys and girls. In the open areas of the slum, the boys explore more spaces than girls, who prefer child’s play in the domestic sphere. At school, educators try to censure some behaviours and attitudes of children, suggesting the pursuit of obedient postures and disciplined bodies. In this context, it is crucial that educators do not convert the school into a place of censorship of the child’s play that resides in the slums and thus transforming the school into a space that reinforces the domestication of bodies from the earliest stages of childhood.

Citation

Ribeiro, L.M.L. (2019), "Child’s play in and out of School: Bodies control of Slum Children", Human Rights for Children and Youth (Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, Vol. 24), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 181-192. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1537-466120190000024010