Children's street culture
Children's street culture refers the cumulative culture of rhymes, songs, jokes, taboos, games, and places (e.g.: places 'known' to be 'haunted' or 'a den' or 'forbidden'), etc among young children. Collectively, this body of knowledge is passed down from one generation of urban children to the next, and can also be passed between different groups of children (e.g.: in the forms of crazes, such as making guys for Bonfire Night - see Erwin 1984). It is often strongest in urban working class industrial districts, where children are traditionally free to 'play out' in the streets for long periods without supervision.
It is not to be confused with the commercial narrative media-culture produced for children (e.g.: comics or television), although it may elide with mass-produced toys and clothing. Children's street culture is invented and largely sustained by children themselves, although it may come to incorporate fragments of media culture and toys in its activities.
Although it varies from place to place, research shows it appears to share many commonalities across many cultures. It is a traditional phenomenon that has been closely investigated and documented during the 20th century by:- anthropologists and folklorists such as Iona Opie; street photographers such as Roger Mayne, Helen Levitt, David Trainer and Robert Doisneau; urbanists such as Colin Ward and Robin Moore, and also described in countless novels of childhood.
Since the widespread use of the motor car, children's street culture has often been forced to retreat to pavements and backstreets, and into parks and playgrounds. Since the advent of television, computer games, and aggressive marketing, concerns have been expressed about the vitality or even the survival of children's own street culture.
Non-fiction
- Iona Opie. The People in the Playground (1993).
- Iona Opie. The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren (1959).
- Simon Bronner. American Children's Folklore (1988).
- Colin Ward (with photos by Ann Golzen). The Child in the City (1977).
- Robin Moore. Childhood's Domain: Play and Place (1986).
- Ervin Beck. "Children's Guy Fawkes Customs in Sheffield", Folklore, 95 (1984), 191-203.
Photography books
- Roger Mayne. Street Photographs of Roger Mayne (1996, Victoria and Albert Museum).
- Robert Doisneau. Les Enfants, Les Gosses (1992).
- Helen Levitt. In The Street: chalk drawings and messages, New York City 1938-1948. (1987 - chalkings & children making them).
- Eddie Elliott (Curator). Knock Down Ginger: Seventy Years of Street Kids (Exhibition, Photographers' Gallery, London; July 2001).
- Les Enfants (Editions de La Martinière, France, 2001) (Anthology of French street photography of children; by Ronis, Riboud, Doisneau, Cartier Bresson, and others).
Television documentaries
- Ian Duncan. (Dir.) Picture This: Playing Out (BBC2 1992)
- Ian Duncan. (Dir.) The Secret World of Children (BBC 1993)
See also: David Sobel. Mapmaking with Children: Sense of Place Education for the Elementary Years (1998).