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more risky and dangerous events could, and did occur. These events involved friendship difficulties (n5), real or perceived violence (n4) and risks to safety (n5). At playtime, children cited the playground, corridors, the woods and unrestricted parts of the school as areas where risk could occur.
When Sunny talked about his experience of playtime, he relayed how a physical altercation had taken place between himself and a peer:
One of my friends who wasn’t my friend they were mucking around and stuff…they were trying to box me up…but at least I’m stronger…at least when he tried to kick me I held his legs and I made him jump up and then he fell and then he tried to punch me and I was like “come on mate boom boom one here and one here” [How did that make you feel?] super cool. (Sunny)
When Sunny recalled an altercation that took place with a peer, his recollection of his display of aggression was partly positive (“super cool”). He appeared to show pride related to his retaliation. Sunny’s language, (“come on mate”, “boom”) sounded grown up in contrast to his young age of seven, which may have been related to a wish for greater power, strength or status than he felt. This could fit with his experience of DA and a feeling of responsibility or increased desire to self-protect. Later, Sunny relayed that the scenario had been imagined, rather than being a factual account.
Wished but I couldn’t do it. There were so many grownups. I only wished. I was running away and then I jumped over something and when he tried to jump over me he was too low and then he tripped over. He got so angry he went off with my friend. (Sunny)
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Sunny’s excerpt implies both his wish to be physically aggressive (possibly related to his beliefs about what “being a man” involves, perhaps linked to the DA encountered) and his simultaneous fear of violence which led him to “run away”. Sunny’s reference to the presence of authority preventing him from behaving in the way he wished also indicated a fear of authority, which could also be related to experiences of DA. An ultimate feeling of abandonment was conveyed when the “perpetrator” got so angry, he left with Sunny’s friend. While this allowed Sunny to be “safe” it also left him unsupported.
Benji also reported that at playtime physical fights broke out between peers.
In this school last year, someone told me “your mum is fat” and then I got very mad. I got very mad. I kicked him in the tummy like five times. I punched him in the back about ten times and I banged him on the shed about twenty times…It actually happened all of it…it made me angry and annoyed because it’s my mum. Like one of the most important people in your life. (Benji)
Similar to Sunny, Benji’s experiences of violence appeared to be connected to his home environment. Feelings of protectiveness towards his mother’s identity exacerbated his anger and provided him with justification for attacking a pupil. Benji’s description conveyed his perception of the control and power he could exhibit in the playground. He went on to describe how after exhibiting violence, he moved on quickly from the episode: “When it’s already happened and I went and beat them up it’s already fine. I don’t really bother. I don’t bother about it because I’ve already just taught them a lesson” (Benji).
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Benji’s talk about physical aggression appeared to be infused with a need to restore justice. Benji conveyed that after inflicting aggression “it’s already fine”. It was important for him to convey that he could move on quickly. Benji’s excerpt suggests the importance of SPs developing interventions, other than physical violence, to help “restore justice”. Similarly to Sunny, Benji
appeared to feel justified in his behaviour. This may be related to what happened in the home environment.
The girl participants (n3) also relayed that break time was a time when risky situations occurred between peers. Rachel described a fight that took place during break time.
I had to solve arguments…shouting ones. Where two friends made an argument over each other and I was the only one who started to split it up and then loads of other people came and helped like split the argument up…my friends were getting hurt cos some of them were punching, fighting, kicking, half of the boys did it to the girls and the girls did it to the boys, and the girls did it to the girls, the boys did it to the boys. [How did you feel when you saw that?] Scared…that they would get hurt like mummy…that someone would fall over and hurt their head or someone would get punched or something. (Rachel)
Rachel’s excerpt explicitly demonstrates a link between her experiences of DA and fear in the playground. Rachel’s internalised sense of responsibility (“I had to solve arguments”) conflicted with her fear (“scared…that they would get hurt like mummy”).
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This subtheme has described how outside of the classroom, children felt more vulnerable, displayed more anger and feared becoming hurt.
5.5.3 Summary of theme 3. Theme 3 has highlighted various contexts