Children speak out: Gender and sexuality in treacherous school journey terrains

• Published in: Agenda (Durban) Vol. 27; no. 3; pp. 14 - 27
• Main Author: Morojele, Pholoho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 01.09.2013; Unisa Press and Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Children; children's school journey; Circumcision; Gender; Lesotho; Research Methodology; Research methods; Rural Areas; rurality; Schools; Sex; Sexuality; Social action; Social Policy
• ISSN: 1013-0950; 2158-978X
• DOI: 10.1080/10130950.2013.834678

This Article provides a critical analysis of the role of gender and sexuality in children's navigation of treacherous school journey terrains in one Lesotho rural primary school. It draws on data generated with 12 children (male = 6; female = 6) who travelled an average distance of 10-15 km to and from school every day. The study employed creative participatory and visual research methodology (for instance, route mapping, diamond ranking and photographic technique) to document the challenges that the children experienced as they traversed the treacherous terrains of their school journey. The findings denote how children resourcefully exploited the dominant discourses of gender and sexuality to mitigate the dangers of passing through dense forests with herd boys, muthi murderers and Basotho traditional circumcision initiates. Children's agency in navigating these obstacles and (albeit life-threatening) challenges included travelling in protective gender-based groupings, getting involved in heterosexual walking relationships and creatively harnessing the dominant homophobic discourses in these contexts in their favour. By foregrounding how gender and sexuality featured as a resource and recourse in how children navigated their school journey, the Article challenges the dominant discourses that view children as immature, sexually innocent (or asexual) and unable to determine their lives. It provides insights into why actively involving children in matters that affect their lives and foregrounding gender and children's sexuality could become a potential catalyst for policy and social action aimed at improving the schooling experiences of rural children.