Challenges with peer groups at school

For some of the participants the school context and their relationships with peers provided them with the most challenging experiences. Several of the participants talked about aggressive interactions which they were subjected to by their peers. For example, Nina and Anya talked about the prevalence of a sexualised culture that they experienced at school wherein it is commonplace for boys to make sexual comments about girls’ bodies and to sexually touch them without their consent. Nina had been sexually harassed by boys at school she had previously attended, on numerous occasions.

Yousef had been subjected to racist taunts and Anya had regularly experienced homophobia from her peers at school. Caroline had experienced social

ostracisation as a result of refusing to conform to the behaviour and values of a dominant peer group in her year group. Nina had also been taunted by her peers as a result of listening to music that was not deemed to reflect mainstream music trends.

Several of the participants also talked about a pressure that they felt to conform to gender stereotypes. Charlie for example talked of how she felt that many boys at her school felt the need to present as being ‘tough’ without revealing signs of vulnerability or needing support. Such behaviour appears to be representative of stereotypes related to hyper-masculinity.

Other participants talked about the pressure on girls to concern themselves with beauty and their appearance and to mimic portrayals of women and beauty promoted in the media. Alison talked about how such ideals were often

unattainable and contradictory; for example girls were expected to be both slim and curvaceous in order to be seen as attractive.

In addition to these pressures, some of the participants also alluded to a materialistic culture involving a pressure to own particular brands or specific consumer goods such as the latest phone.

Such pressures are arguably reflective of the values that have been promoted through the commercialisation of childhood which has involved the expansion of capitalist markets, products and lifestyles that have been marketed and targeted at young people (Williams, 2016; Timimi, 2006).

Thus the pressure to conform to gender stereotyping which several of the participants talked about can be seen as a consequence of the growth of the commercial markets which are specifically targeted at either men or women (Sweet, 2012). In an attempt to brand products as suitable for either men or women, many companies have relied on gender stereotyped imagery resulting in the promotion and entrenchment of gender stereotypes within society (Onuwurah, 2014).

For girls, this commercialisation has resulted in an increased pressure to aspire to particular forms of appearance. However, many of the images targeted at girls have been criticised for being highly sexual and for promoting images of women that are thought to be unhealthily thin. (American Psychological Association, 2010; Department for Education, 2011).

The relentless promotion of these images has also contributed to an increasing number of girls who are excessively worried about their appearance and who are developing unhealthy ways of trying to conform to images marketed at them (Williams, 2016).

The prevalence of stereotypes in relation to boys appears to have made it more difficult for them to express a wide range of emotions, to display signs of

vulnerability and to ask for help as such qualities do not reflect those associated with the masculine stereotypes that are commonly depicted in advertising

campaigns (Welcoming Schools Guide, 2016).

The immersion of young people in a consumerist culture also appears to have resulted in a lack of tolerance around values and behaviours which deviate from commercial trends in addition to more competitive relationships as young people vie for the higher social status that material goods supposedly bring (Monbiot, 2013).

However, the commercial markets targeted at young people also echo many of the values, images and products targeted at adults. Indeed they arguably encourage young people to mimic the behaviour of adults. An example of this can be seen in the highly sexualised images and products that are often targeted at young women. The expansion of consumer markets which are targeted at young people thus appear to have contributed to a blurring of the boundaries between children, young people and adults.

The development of the internet and the prevalence of on-line access seems to have further contributed to the blurring of these boundaries. For example, it has enabled young people to develop relationships with adults who are unknown to their parents.

With access to pornography, adult rated films and images it has also provided young people with access to the same cultural material as adults.

However, access to products and social contexts previously deemed suitable only for adults has presented young people with considerable challenges. For

example, there have been an increasing number of debates about the levels of autonomy and privacy that young people should be entitled to on-line alongside a concern for their safety and their vulnerability to grooming (Palmer, 2003; British Broadcasting Corporation, 2013b British Broadcasting Corporation, 2013d; Whittle, Hamilton-Giachritsis, Beech, & Collings, 2012).

Erin had experienced cyber-bullying that consisted of people making derogatory comments about her and the suicide of her step-father. Such comments may reflect the difficulties for young people in negotiating an online, social context which has few boundaries and which may not be under the radar of their parents or other adults that may be able to support them in this context.

There is also much concern about the impact which exposure to pornography is having the upon the well-being of young people and their peer relationships. A recent survey found that 1 in 10 children aged between 12 and 13 years old believe that they are addicted to pornography (National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 2015). Additionally, there is a national pattern of the sexual harassment of girls at school that involves them being touched, taunted with sexual language and coerced into sexual acts by boys (Norris, 2013). Indeed a recent survey revealed that 60% of girls aged between 13 and 21 had been sexually harassed at school or college (Bates, 2014).

Such statistics appear to echo the experiences of Nina and Anya who talked of about the sexualised culture at their school and of how sexual harassment of girls by boys was commonplace.

The peer interactions that many of the participants talked about appear to reflect the dominant cultures and social contexts that young people within the UK are immersed in. The challenges within these contexts seem complex, multifarious and appear to have had a considerable impact upon the well-being and

relationships of many young people.