“HEY TEACHER, I LIKE A SCRAP!” PLAYING AND FIGHTING AT SCHOOL

Abstract

This study looks into children’s play-fighting and real fights experienced in the school environment from the perspective of children’s daily life in a Center for Whole Attention to Children and Adolescents located in Sobradinho II, DF, Brazil. It is a qualitative, ethnographic study with theoretical-methodological contributions from Sociologies of Daily Life and Childhood. Field research was conducted over seven months of the 2017 school year, with 34 children aged 9-12. The instruments used were participant observation, drawing, and conversations with the children. Field records allowed identifying categories that show play-fighting and real fights under the paradoxical dimensions of children’s daily life, which carry aspects surrounding conflict as a mediator of relationships conceived inside and outside the school.

Keywords:
Child; Play and playthings; Violence; Conflict