Abstract

BITTENCOURT, Maria Inês Garcia de Freitas. O espaço e os outros: aspectos da experiência da vida urbana retratada por crianças de diferentes classes sociais. Rev. Mal-Estar Subj. [online]. 2010, vol.10, n.4, pp.1301-1324. ISSN 1518-6148.

The values that are linked to contemporary education, particularly those prevailing in the upper social classes, appear to have important consequences in the way children experience childhood: time and space for spontaneous playing, so important for a healthy mental development of the future adult subject, seem to be often sacrificed to give place to conditions for a future "adult" achievement, through preparatory studies and activities. The conditions of daily life in contemporary cities, particularly the increased occurrence of violence and the values related to individualism and purchasing, play an important role in determining the way children experience and represent their environment. Some related questions are discussed in this paper: the concept of childhood, the function of playing in child's development, the experience of physical space in urban environment and the attitudes towards the others, based on a field research with children belonging to different social classes, that outlines the influence of the conditions of urban life . Children from the upper classes seem to show a greater difficulty to get conscious of a personal sense of their inner experience, while children from working class show more creativity and playing ability in the way they experience the environment.

Keywords : Childhood; City; Consumer society; Experience; Alterity.

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