PEER RELATIONS AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING IN THE SCHOOL CONTEXTABSTRACT
This study aimed to understand and analyze the relation between children’s perceptions and feelings about their peers and their subjective well-being (SWB) in the school context. Focus group methodology was used, and 17 children (aged 10-13) participated: nine from public schools and eight from private schools, both in Rio de Janeiro. The data were systematized into four categories: (a) the meaning of friendships for children; (b) perceptions and feelings of peer support; (c) perceptions and feelings of peer abuse; and (d) peer relations and post-pandemic return to school. The results indicated that meaningful friendships promote well-being, relation satisfaction, and positive affect, which were understood as essential from the children’s perspectives. Relations involving abuse negatively influenced SWB. The importance of school as a primary context for intervention to improve the quality of peer relations throughout school life is highlighted.
Keywords:
children and adolescents; school; interpersonal relationships
RESUMO
Este estudo teve como objetivo principal compreender e analisar a relação entre as percepções e sentimentos das crianças acerca de seus pares e o seu bem-estar subjetivo (BES) no contexto escolar. Utilizou-se a metodologia de Grupo Focal e participaram 17 crianças (10-13 anos): nove crianças de escola pública e oito de escola particular ambas do Rio de Janeiro. Os dados foram sistematizados em 4 categorias: (a) o significado das amizades para as crianças; (b) percepções e sentimentos de apoio entre pares; (c) percepções e sentimentos de maus-tratos entre pares e (d) relações entre pares e volta as aulas pós-pandemia. Os resultados indicaram que as amizades significativas são promotoras de bem-estar, satisfação a partir de relacionamentos e afetos positivos que foram entendidas como essenciais nas perspectivas das crianças. As relações que envolveram maus-tratos influenciaram negativamente o BES. Destaca-se a importância da escola como contexto primordial de intervenção para melhorar a qualidade dos relacionamentos entre pares ao longo da vida escolar.
Palavras-chave:
crianças e adolescentes; escola; relações interpessoais
RESUMEN
Este estudio tuvo como objetivo principal comprender y analizar la relación entre las percepciones y sentimientos de los niños acerca de sus pares y su bienestar subjetivo (BES) en el contexto escolar. Se utilizó la metodología de Grupo Focal y participaron 17 niños (10-13 años): nueve niños de escuela pública y ocho de escuela privada ambas de Rio de Janeiro. Los datos se sistematizaron en 4 categorías: (a) el significado de las amistades para los niños; (b) percepciones y sentimientos de apoyo entre pares; (c) percepciones y sentimientos de malos tratos entre pares y (d) relaciones entre pares y retorno a las clases tras pandemia. Los resultados indicaron que las amistades significativas son promotoras de bien estar, satisfacciones a partir de relacionamientos y afectos positivos que se entendieron como esenciales en las perspectivas de los niños. Las relaciones que implican malos tratos influenciaron negativamente el BES. Se subraya la importancia de la escuela como contexto primordial de intervención para mejorar la calidad de los relacionamientos entre pares a lo largo de la vida escolar.
Palabras clave:
niños y adolescentes; escuela; relaciones interpersonales
INTRODUCTION
The scientific interest to study Subjective Well-being (SWB) in childhood increased considerably in the last decades. Such interest was strongly influenced by the Convention on Children’s Rights (United Nations Children’s Fund [UNICEF], 1989) adopted by the General Assembly of The United Nations (UN) and ratified by 196 countries, including Bazil (Bedin, Sarriera, & Alfaro, 2022). The convention on children’s rights were an international landmark that influenced the paradigm of childhood and reinvented the concept of children’s wellbeing from the perspective of children’s citizenship. This demanded the attention of the government, groups and individuals for the diverse dimensions of wellbeing - biopsychological and sociopolitical (Sarmento & Ferreira, 2008).
Subjective Well-being (BES) is a multidimensional construct that is defined by assessments of individuals on their lives, including cognitive and emotional dimensions. The cognition domain is related to satisfaction with life, in a general or specific way (e.g. family, friends, school) while affections also refer to positive or negative feelings that are experienced by people in different circumstantial demands (Diener, 2012). The scientific literature that investigates the subjectiveness of the well-being of children corroborates the importance of investigating this theme in an ecological way, examining the diverse dimensions where children live (Corominas, González-Carrasco, & Casas, 2020; Savahl et al., 2020).
In this realm, a theoretical model that provides the basis for such investigations, including the present study, is the Bioecological Theory of Human Development (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998). The Bioecological model of Human Development interrelates individual and contextual elements and considers development a reciprocal process that is result of these interactions by individuals in various surrounding systems. These systems were conceptualized into four distinct levels: micro, mezzo, exo and macrosystem. There is a highlight, in this study, for the microsystem - where direct and face-to-face relations are anchored. In childhood, family, school, and the group of peers can be considered relational microsystems. In this interactional perspective, the concept of proximal processes is characterized by the reciprocal emotional relation between individuals and people or objects from their immediate environment by means of processes of mutual stimuli for a long time (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998). In childhood, supporting relations, stable, with protective characteristics, emotional sharing, and meaning for children (a group of friends for example) might favor their development. However, it is necessary to consider the presence of other ecological systems in which children live and interact, as well as the diverse interactions that take place in each one of them (Marzol, Bonafé, & Yunes, 2012).
In this direction, a relevant microsystem for this study is the group of peers. This is an important context in the Bioecology of Human Development and a key concept in the area of Childhood Sociology. The latter commonly employs this microsystem in order to designate young culture in which there are symbolic exchanges, playtime, interpretations, and negotiations on the children’s different points of view. By means of playtime and social interactions, children experience, participate, interpret and reinvent their world. This collaborates with the production of the culture of peers, which are forms of socializing that are different from adults. From such perspective, “the group of peers can be a support network and a learning environment” in which children actively and critically contribute to social changes and the status-quo, which is pre-determined by adults (Tomás, Trevisan, Carvalho, & Fernandes, 2021, p. 281).
In a recent literature review on childhood Subjective Well-being (Moreira, Yunes, Nascimento, & Bedin, 2021), 14 studies were selected and they provided evidence that, in addition to family, friendships are predictors of SWB in children. It was emphasized that positive relationships with peers have the potential to become friendship bonds that can function as a support and protection network that significantly contributes to the reduction of exclusion and victimization experiences among peers. On the other hand, aggressive, conflicting relationships and the bullying phenomenon negatively influence the children’s well-being. When it comes to relations among peers, it is important to highlight that the present study will focus on two aspects: friendships with good traits and expressions of ill treatment in the school context.
It is also important to highlight that fact that school is a relevant space for social interaction where there are interactions not only with groups of peers but also with teachers and the school community. In this context, the established relations are considered to have a considerable impact on children’s well-being (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998; Petrucci, Borsa, & Koller, 2016; Sarriera, Casas, Santos, Bedin, & Gonzàlez, 2018). Having classmates positively influences the feeling of well-being at school (Shin & Ryan, 2014).
In view of what has been exposed, the objective of this study was to assess and understand the relation between children’s perceptions and feelings regarding their peers (friendships with good treats/support x friendships with ill-treatment among peers) and Subjective Well-being in the school context. Researchers also explored the children’s opinion on possible changes in relations with friends at school during the Covid-19 pandemic.
METHODOLOGY
This study used a qualitative and transversal methodological structure in order to explore the relation among children’s perceptions and feelings regarding their peers and their Subjective Well-being in the school context. The research is inserted in the third wave of project “Mundos das Crianças” (Children’s Worlds, the International Survey of Children’s Well-Being - ISCWeB). In their amplitude, this “umbrella project” aims at investigating Subjective Well-being, rights, and satisfaction with their life contexts in children from different populational groups in over 30 countries.1 In the scope we present here, the study was conducted in the municipality of São Gonçalo, located in the outskirts of the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, and known as the second largest city in the State with approximately 1.098.357 inhabitants and the 16th in Brazil. The children were selected in two schools - a public and a private one. The second one is located in the 3rd district of Monjolos, in the Pacheco neighborhood (a more peripheral district). The second school is part of the 4th district of Neves, the Paraíso district (central region).
Participants
17 children aged from 10 to 13 years, nine of them were students at a public school and eight attended a private school, both located in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro. It is important to highlight that at the public school all students from the 7th year were invited with a total of 36 students. 26 students accepted the invitation but only 9 students came back with a consent term signed by their parents. In the private school, smaller in size, and with empty classrooms at the post-pandemic moment, all students of the 5th year agreed to participate, with a total number of 9 students. 8 returned with a signed consent term. A focal group session was realized for each group. This choice of age group was due to the observation, in a previous study, that children at this age demonstrate less satisfaction with their well-being than younger children (8-10 children) (Moreira et al., 2022).
Data gathering
Data were collected by means of focal groups that were facilitated by the researcher-mediator and an observer from the same research group. The focal groups were preceded by an “ice-breaking” session with the presentation of a video for children2 with the objective to relax the mood and promote initial reflections and exchanges among peers regarding the investigated themes. Later, a script was used to facilitate the group work with the following semi-structured questions: (1) What does it mean to you to have friends at school? How do you see your friends? When I say “friends”… What comes to your mind?; (2) What does it mean to you to have friends that protect/children that mistreat at school? Considering the group of friends that support/children that mistreat, what are the differences between these two contexts?; (3) What does it feel like for a child that has friends that protect/ other children that mistreat? (What are the emotions that come up?); (4) In your opinion, what has changed in the relations with your friends from school after the pandemic? What has improved? What had become harder? These questions were developed in order to capture information on the dimension of relations among peers and the children’s well-being. These themes were previously chosen by the investigators considering previous studies in continuity with the doctoring of the first author (Moreira et al., 2021, 2022).
Data Analysis
The focal groups were fully transcribed and the results were read to exhaustion. The analysis followed the principles of content analysis (Bardin, 2011) after the following stages: the organization of results of the focus group and field notes, the organization of the material into theme units, the categorization, the inferences and the interpretation of data. The categories were developed by means of the guiding questions that were systematized, revised, and improved during the codification process. The units of meaning of the transcriptions were highlighted and divided into groups. Finally, in the inference and interpretation stage, there was an attempt to obtain content that is subjacent to what is declared in the selected parts (Bardin, 2011).
Ethical Procedures
This research was approved by the Ethics Committee in Research with Human Beings (CAAE: 00674612.6.0000.5334). The schools adhered to the realization of research and signaled the Term of Institutional Agreement (TIA). The research was presented to the children, along with the objectives of the study and what their participation would imply, the ethical principles of voluntary participation, confidentiality, anonymousness and the right to give up at any moment without any consequence. The Terms of Free, Informed Consent (TFIC) were sent to the people who were responsible for the students. These students who were interested and whose participation was authorized by the parents, also signed a Term of Free, Informed Agreement (TFIA). The focal groups took place in the classrooms, during class and lasted approximately 50 to 60 minutes. The field notes were realized during the focal group by the observer. The sessions were recorded in audio, with the permission of the children and fully transcribed.
RESULTS
For a better comprehension of the analyzed phenomena, the results will be organized in accordance with the analysis categories. The first category, entitled “Every friend that exists has fights”: the meaning of friendships, aimed at including the critical perspective of the children on the complex concept of friendship. The friends were repeatedly associated to emotional expressions that are positive as well as negative.
In the context of the public school: The narratives of the children on friendships revealed the fickleness of relations by attesting that: “happiness is love, hope … hate” (D1, boy, 12 years old); “love, joy, and hate too” (B1, girl, 12 years old), “sometimes it gets annoying” (D1, boy, 12 years). On the positive aspects of the friendships, the children reported that friends support each other like a “second family” (C1, girl, 12 years old) and explain: “there are many people that are not very close to their families but then they have friends they can talk with, play and get support...” (A1, girl, 13 years old). The reflections that compare the connections with family and friends are related to emotional support and care. In this direction, the friendships in the voices of children were portrayed as a space for sharing, for exchanging secrets and knowledge, of fellowship, collaboration, and group activities. Friendships that are seen as true emerged in similar declarations: “Friendship to me is like this... love, sharing things, not everything. Partnership, you see?” (H1, girl, 13 years old); “Playtime is fun...” (D1, boy, 12 years). The children also exposed the reciprocity of the manifestations of the transitory conflicts among friends: “he hits me, I hit him back (D1, boy, 12 years); “no problem...they talk it over and everything is fine” (H1, girl, 14 years old). The reports make it clear that this type of tension in the relations is perceived as natural: “we pick on each other a lot, sometimes it’s me sometimes it’s him(E1), Ma’am, I think friendship is playful” (D1, boy, 12 years). In this sense, some negative aspects were described as related to the lack of trust and falseness: “not all friends are true friends, everyone knows it, right... you can trust some of them, because there is a lot of falseness going on...” (B1, girl, 12 years); “you can’t tell everything” (F1, girl, 12 years); “...sometimes it hurts your feelings” (H1, girl, 13 years). /
In the context of a private school: In the private school, the dialogues also demonstrated the ambivalences of positive and negative aspects of friendships. There was a highlight on the relations of support and assistance: “a friend is someone who is there for you, and treats you well, and helps you...” (R2, girl, 11 years). However, negative aspects of the difficulties that are inherent to friendships emerged: “all friends fight sometimes” (O2, girl, 10 years). The daily interaction and the relations also display discomfort sometimes: “sometimes (02) she calls me in the morning and I am sleeping. She wants to play but I am too sleepy” (P2, boy, 10 years). Anyway, we could observe that small conflicts are regarded as natural by the children as the perception of the participants on the betraying of one’s trust by a friend comes with feelings of sadness and disappointment that seem too hard to overcome: “when I revealed something about myself [...] they [peers] started teasing me... I thought he was a true friend and that I could tell him anything” (N2, boy, 10 years).
The second category, entitled “Person that helps me at difficult moments”: perceptions and feeling of support among peers reunites a set of records that is related to the reports by the children on significant and supportive friendships that include characteristics related to trust, the fact that they are always together and feel protected in adversity.
In the context of the public school: Having a friend we can count on at difficult moments was understood by the children as fundamental. According to the participants, “someone you can count on”, “When one cannot count on family” is considered a good friend, a partner, which seems to give safety and well-being to participants. The following declarations can express this idea: “When we are not with family, who would we be with? With friends… friends protect us when parents are not there” (G1, girl, 12 years); “it is what she said... that a friend has to be with you to support you, to protect you when you need the most, at the moments when you cannot count on your family, for example...” (C1, girl, 12 years). Feeling happiness, joy, and love, were aspects that were explored by the children. It became evident in the speeches in which the interaction with supportive friends causes satisfaction and well-being, according to some of them: “a person who has friends [who provide support] ...I think they feel like this... loved, happy, may feelings...” (H1, girl, 13 years); it is a child who is lighter, who has fun, who is happy” (C1, girl, 12 years); “feels good... and happy” (E1, boy, 13 years).
In the context of a private school: among the references to having friends for protection, the children consider the importance of having support and loyalty at difficult moments. In general, the participants pointed out that in addition to this, the friend that supports is also the one who spends a lot of time together, denoting a closeness that is inherent to daily interaction in significant friendships, as we can see in the following speeches: “to me, a friend, in whom I can trust... is a person who stays with me, with I can talk, tell secrets and... also a person who is true” (O2, girl, 10 years); a friend ... is always by my side, and helps me in the most difficult situation… and who always has time for conversation ...” (N2, boy, 10 years). There was a highlight on the importance of the fellowship, support and fun that having a friend might bring.
The third category, entitled “When someone is mistreated and feels that nobody likes them”: perceptions and feelings on mistreatment among peers, represents the children’s reports on mistreatment. The frequency of reports on bullying, prejudice, exclusion among peers, physical mistreatment, verbal offense, disloyalty and negative feelings predominated.
In the context of the public school: aspects of the bullying phenomenon emerged in the discourse of most children: “They came to spank me inside the classroom, for something I did not do” (H1, girl, 13 years); “They keep teasing me” (E1, boy, 13 years); “bullying, gossiping” (D1, boy, 12 years). The participants also referred to racial prejudice: “Look, ma’am, (E1) for example, they keep being racist with him. There is a lot of it at school, you know… but he does not care. I say to him, “come on, man. Don’t let it get to you… all right? God made us the way we are!” (H1, girl, 13 years). Negative feelings (sadness, depression, isolation) that are related to mistreatment among peers emerged in similar declarations: “When a person is mistreated they feel sadness, they feel that nobody likes them.” (E1, boy, 13 years). The feeling of exclusion among peers also stood up in the children’s dialogues, according to the following excerpts: “when a child does not have friends, I think they feel excluded, they feel bad. Sometimes people want to be friends with them but they have this habit of disconnecting from the world and refuse friendship.” (C1, girl, 12 years); “a person who does not have friends like that … I think they feel excluded, lots of people get depressed over this” (H1, girl, 13 years).
In the context of the private school: at the private school, the reports on bullying also filled the reports: “they gave me a nickname that I really did not like...” (P2, boy, 10 years); “my teacher bullied me ... she said I was no good, that I was useless. It happened to my sister too” ... (Q2, girl, 10 years). Although in a smaller number, there were also reports of racial prejudice: “I was waiting in line, minding my own business when they hit me in the face and pulled my hair. I asked “Why are you doing this?” and they said “You are not a normal person, you are filthy because you are black” (O2, girl, 10 years). Concerning feelings, expressions of sadness, dissatisfaction, and isolation were included. Other narratives reflect this same feeling: “mistreated children get sad and want another life” (N2, boy, 10 years); “they get tired of life” (O2, girl, 10 years).
In the fourth category, entitled “I liked it because I found my friends”: relations among peers and back to class after the pandemic there was a highlight on the nostalgic reports of friends because of the mandatory physical isolation and online lessons, the feeling of missing school, missing the interaction with peers that was interrupted by the closing of schools during the pandemic.
In the context of the public school: in general, the children reported that they liked going back to onsite lessons. Most of the reflections referred to the feelings of missing friends, with this excerpt: “we always feel like we miss school a little... sometimes we miss the studies … it is mostly for our friends that we are in the classroom, friends we interact with, talk with... you know?” (G1, girl, 12 years). A group of children agrees with the affirmation by H1 (girl, 13 years): “I did not like it much, I spent the whole pandemic year online, there was no opportunity to come to school. [After the pandemic] a feel closer to each other, there are people we never saw, today we talk, we play, we interact”.
In the context of the private school: At the private school, it was possible to find the largest number of reports on missing friends and the joy of being reunited: “I liked going back to school because I could see my friends. I only have one brother and he was too small (M2, boy, 10 years); “the pandemic ... coming back to school was nice because I could see my friends” (L2, boy, 11 years). Although in a smaller number, there were also comments on the changes after the pandemic, friends grew up or changed schools: “I saw changes, people who used to be small now seemed so tall...” (Q2, girl, 10 years); “... I did not like it, ... I noticed that many of my friends had disappeared... Lots of people that I liked left the school...” (N2, boy, 10 years). The participants appreciated the school environment, as a space for connections and exchanges among peers: “it is Much better to come to school because there are more people to talk to. When I am at home I just watch TV...” (O2, girl, 10 years).
DISCUSSION
The most important objective of this study was to understand and analyze the relation between the perceptions and feelings of children aged from 10 to 13 years, on their peers and their Subjective Well-being in the school context. Furthermore, there was an attempt to get to know the opinion of the children on the changes in the relations with friends from school during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is important to emphasize the importance of giving the children a voice and listening to them, while prioritizing listening, protagonism, and the participation in research works (Sarmento & Ferreira, 2008). This leads to a situation in which the children’s points of view can be assimilated and taken into consideration in the planning of public policies and political-pedagogical actions for their sake in different contexts.
The obtained results demonstrated the critical vision of the children on friendships, which are perceived as dynamic processes and non-linear, unilateral or motionless. The self-analysis and the reflections elaborated by the participants on the interactions and relationships with friends (although they comprehend transitory conflicts) proved essential to affirm the satisfaction with their lives. The participants demonstrated that they felt love, happiness, hope, and comfort in the company of friends. The positive perception of the friendships is connected to the fact that the children feel embraced and supported by a “second family”. They reveal that with friends they can play, talk, and share secrets. This space for playtime is different from the world of adults, and it is the place where partnerships are consolidated. This is a piece of information that is consistent with studies on the group of peers and the culture that is produced by means of exchanges and interactions during activities (Corsaro, 2009). Pereira (2022), in an ethnographic study that lasted seven months, investigated the practices of friendships among a group of children at a Brazilian school. The researcher reinforces that playtime provides the essential conditions for the characterization of friendships and these are they are the ones that trigger affections, connections, learning, and genuine perceptions by the children. These results are aligned with the principles of Bioecological Theory (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998), because playtime is an activity that is truly an expression of proximal processes, the characteristics of which are: the interactions among two or more people who reciprocally stimulate each other, in an emotional exchange that is shared in an activity in common (Bersch & Yunes, 2008). Thus, it is possible to have evidence of the value of significant relations established by proximal processes - which have to prolong themselves during development in order to be effective - the interactive experiences in different context that influence the well-being of children (Bersch & Yunes, 2008).
It is important to highlight that the children seemed excited when they shared their ideas about the friends they could count on. It was as if that loyal and close company - with whom they identified - could bring safety, emotional and stable with themselves and with others. It could be recognized in the study by Furman and Birman (1984) developed with 64 children at an American school. The researchers demonstrated that the similarity of behaviors can facilitate the friendships and is related to similar values and attitudes among peers. In the refereed study, the authors also suggest that such affinities change in accordance with development and emphasize the need for multiple methodologies to reach the children’s subjectivities.
In this Direction, in a study with a group of children from a Portuguese school, Trevisan (2007) makes a sociological analysis of the construction of affection and of love among them. The studies demonstrated that the children see themselves as agents in their worlds and deeply appreciate friendships in symbolical and practical ways. Furthermore, they learn about emotions in the interaction with a group of peers and learn how to control their effect. The results demonstrate that in the intimacy of the group of peers, friends internalize norms and behaviors of the reality of adults and recreate them in their possibilities while accommodating them in their worlds. By spending a lot of time together, learn social competences, ways to interact, negotiate, play and create rules. This research, in a dialogue with the previously mentioned ones, attests that the symbolic value of having a friend seems common to all children. However, daily interaction might reveal different aspects depending on the gender and age difference, which suggests that new studies must be conducted in different environments and cultures.
This research evidenced the perceptions of children on friendships identified in the mutuality of connections. These ideas are in alignment with the definitions of friendship in childhood that attest that the reciprocal affections and the mutual consideration are essential factors for the comprehension of this phenomenon. In addition, our findings are consistent with the literature and suggest that loyalty, intimacy, trust, and stability in relations are fundamental characteristics in relations (Bukowski, Newcomb, & Hartup, 1996; Rose, Borowski, Spiekerman, & Smith, 2022). Such considerations are in accordance with one of the important presuppositions of the bioecological model of Bronfenbrenner and Morris (1998) which places reciprocity as an essential element of the proximal relations that is fundamental for human development (Marzol et al., 2012).
The participants were asked about friendships at school and in spite of being informed since the beginning that we were talking about the relations among peers in the school environment, most of the children referred to situations out of school. They talked about other places where they interacted: “a party” or in virtual environments “playing with my friends”; “going to the [sic] birthday party”; “I was born in the same hospital as she was”; or in the cell phones: “she calls me in the morning”; “at home with my brother” or even at unspecified places that are marked by time: “a good moment”. According to the results, it was possible to perceive that the relations with friends transcend school and extend to diverse contexts. Therefore, overflowing the walls of school in a network of interactions that is complex and permeated by affections that are both positive and negative characterized circumstances that are both pleasurable and unpleasurable and are experienced by friends.
Concerning negative aspects of the relations among peers, the children in this study revealed feelings of hate, and irritability that lead to fights and disagreements. However, some reports on disagreements among friends were regarded as playfulness whereas others described the disloyalties, intimidations, and betrayals and crossed the line between friendship and mistreatment. When they were questioned about the mistreatment, the children became serious, spoke and listened attentively to the reports by their peers and showed that they cared about the answers. There were no distractions or small parallel dialogues like for the other debated themes, in which sometimes it was necessary to make an effort to keep the students’ attention and keep the focus on what was being discussed because the children were really excited. We could notice the silence that translated the afflictions and insecurities that were provoked by relationships that involved mistreatments, verbal and physical aggressions, bullying and feelings of exclusion. Although less frequently, reports on racial prejudice appeared among the described examples. The content of the answers on these themes evidenced feelings of loneliness, abandonment, sadness, and isolation in the participants’ discourses, which leads to the need to develop other investigations on a theme that demands research works that will listen to the voices and complaints by the children.
Varela et al. (2022) examined a cohort of 3.744 among Brazilian and Chilean children who participated in the third wave of the international research on childhood well-being (ISCWeb) in Latin America and identified a negative and significant correlation between satisfaction with life and being victimized by peers. The analysis of the referred study identified the protective role of the feeling of safety in the satisfaction with the lives of children who were victims of mistreatment among peers. There was also a highlight on the fact that the positive relations among peers and the feeling of affiliation at school are intrinsically related to feelings of safety in the school context. In another study, based on the in-depth analysis in a case study of a student from a Brazilian school, Fernandes, Yunes and Taschetto (2017) discussed the seriousness of the bullying phenomenon, which might cause trauma, low self-esteem and learning difficulties in childhood. In a systemic perspective, the authors identified the reflection of the student’s suffering in his attitude within the family microsystem, and the mistreating of his younger sister. After a project of protective intervention in the classroom that was developed by the teacher of the referred student, it was possible to observe a new report by the child with the change in perception regarding the school environment and his well-being. The role played by bullying in the development of relational traumas is constantly mentioned in the literature (Earnshaw et al., 2018).
It is possible to deduce, by means of these considerations, that encouraging interventions for spaces for conversations and exchanges might promote practices of good treatment, resilience, and Subjective Well-being for children and adolescents in an individual or collective context of risk. Thus, actions, support programs and positive, psychoeducational interventions within the social and school contexts must focus on these aspects in the municipal, state, and federal spheres (Yunes, Fernandes, & Weschenfelder, 2018).
Finally, a set of reports by the participants revealed that returning to class after the pandemic intensified feelings of friendship, inclusion, and positive interactions. In addition, the participants began to better appreciate the school environment. On the other hand, the coordinator of the public school voiced a lot of complaints on the return to onsite lessons after the pandemic, with reports that the children were more agitated and the teachers had more difficulty to calm them down and transmit the content of the disciplines. The principal of the private school complained that after the pandemic many students left school because their parents could not afford the fees. There was another problem. Although classrooms had fewer students, misbehavior seemed more intense.
Tomás and Fernandes (2013, p. 202) emphasize that social dynamics at school should be democratic. This would imply that schools must present themselves essentially as a promoting context “of the children’s image as active individuals in the construction of knowledge”, respecting their participation and child citizenship. Thus, the image of the mistreated child, as a person who is not ready, an unfinished being who could me molded into citizenship with rights.
Studies show that there is an association between the school environment and behavioral problems (e.g. disrespect, violence) that happen among students and among students and teachers (Vinha et al., 2016). Reflecting on these different visions (children’s reports x reports by the school coordinators), it is possible to attest the importance of the promotion of the culture of dialogue in the school community, of caretaking for relations by means of procedures such as the organization assemblies that were managed by the students, round tables, conflict mediation, associations and groups that could contribute to the children’s participation and to decision making, which could promote better interpersonal relationships in a stimulating environment, engagement and support, that is, an environment of well-being at school (Vinha et al., 2016).
CONCLUSION
In the present study, realized by means of the organization of focal groups with subsequent qualitative analysis of the collected material, it was possible to reflect more deeply on the concept of friendship for the children. It is also possible to perceive and understand the points of view and the feelings on the relations of support and mistreatment among peers. Although the reports by the children were separately organized by type of school, the analysis revealed a convergence in their perceptions of friendships, experiences of exclusions and mistreatment.
The research strategy was conducive to the access to relational dimensions that affect the children’s satisfaction with life and mobilize positive and negative feelings when it comes to well-being. It was possible to observe that significant friendships are promoters of well-being, satisfaction with relationships and positive affections and were understood as essential in the children’s perspectives. On the other hand, the relations involve threats, aggressions, mistreatment, disloyalty, bullying and prejudice negatively influence SWB.
It was emphasized that the space to play and do activities together are of great importance, at school and in other contexts in which the children interact, build their worlds, emotions and share knowledge. Reports about having a friend with whom you can count at moments of adversity provided evidence that a network of positive friendships can promote protection mechanisms. In this sense, it is considered that school is an undeniable context of intervention to improve the quality of relationships among peers throughout school life.
Children from two schools in only one state in Brazil participated in this study, which can be considered a limiting factor, as well as the transversal design of the gathering of data because these factors restrict the generalization of results. However, in a dialogue with Childhood Sociology, these results suggest that the children share knowledge, values, and ways to interact that are characteristic of peer culture. This culture, although it is somewhat autonomous, it is not immune to the influences of the social, and economic context and also the context of the symbolic values in which it is inserted. Also, in consonance with the Bioecological Theory of Human Development, it is possible to recognize that childhood development is affected by multiple contexts in systemic interaction. However, in the present sample, it was not possible to capture more comprehensive nuances that reveal how these influences in the environment can affect the perceptions and feelings of the children about their peers and their Subjective Well-being in different school environment.
Thus, bigger samples that include children from other Brazilian states in the school context, as well as in other microsystems and macrosystems that will be able to bring further explanations on the individual and contextual aspects of the relations among peers and their Subjective Well-being. It is recommended that future studies be longitudinal in order to lead to the comprehension of different age groups because they will lead to the observation of other indicators if well-being in a relation of causality, such as race, gender, age and its implications, while taking into consideration the point of view and the protagonism of the children’s voices.
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