I guess this links in slightly with my first post, about humans still being biologically tribal. Regardless that how I viewed the group of 5 boys that came down to the junk playground "The Land" yesterday (that's where I work by the way).
Initially their behaviour seemed erratic and destructive to me, it didn't seem to have any purpose other than causing anger and frustration in others. That was until I began to observe their behaviour as though they were a tribe, or a troop of baboons. Not that I think they're baboons, but that mind set helped me understand and interpret their behaviour.
Of most interest to me was the youngest of the 5, he's nine or ten and we'll call him Bradley. He was of interest to me as he usually come to the playground with a different group of lads, and within that group he is very much at the top of the hierarchy, or near enough. Whereas in this group he is certainly at the bottom, not to mention the fact that the other lads were much older than him compare to him usual group.
As I watched it seemed that although Bradley had a place in this hierarchy, he had no authority or status at all over the other older lads; he was almost just along for the ride. And that's when it got interesting for me, as Bradley had found a stick. Quite a good stick as well, and I remember from my childhood that wielding a stick was an empowering feeling. Clearly the other lads in the group agreed and one tried to seize the stick from Bradley. To me this was not an attack on his status within the group as he had little, but more an attack on his actual membership of it. Being much younger I guess it is a constant struggle to prove yourself to the older lads and in being with them at all I think it gives him much more status and authority and maybe acceptance with children his own age. But that's just a guess.
Anyway, Bradley didn't roll over and die, he fought for the stick, he retaliated against this challenge of his position in the troop. And they pulled and pushed and twisted for a while but being bigger and stronger the other boy won and Bradley was left unhappy and without a stick and firmly at the bottom of the hierarchy. But Bradley isn't one to give up and in a stroke of genius he sawed off the end of a brush, giving himself bigger and better stick. Although this was even more short lived than the first stick as the leader of the troop was watching.
The commotion over the first stick had not gone unnoticed by him and seeing as how he couldn't get the stick from the boy who wrestled it off of Bradley he too sought his own. He went over and took the new stick off of Bradley but this time there was no struggle, this boy is undoubtedly the leader of their pack so Bradley conceded and the leaders place was secure at the top. I could say more on him but we'll go back to Bradley.
He was fuming now and fairly so, despite his best efforts he had been repeatedly pushed to the bottom of the troop, it was almost a caste system. So he went into the office of the playworkers and took another brush, this time it was a metal one and took the end of that with a couple of whacks against a pallet. The other two in the group weren't bothered about having sticks or pole or brushes so Bradley got to keep this one. Although now there were unhappy playworkers who didn't have any brushes left and were having to intervene in this troop of defiant males.
The playworkers had just cause to be annoyed and gave a reasoned argument but the task was futile as far as I could see it as this was Bradley's chance to solidify his position in the troop and remind the older lads why he was with them. The playworkers intervened and Bradley bit back with swearing and aggression, the older lads laughed and Bradley didn't seem so low on the hierarchy any more and for that moment it was more a meritocracy than a caste system.
Interestingly when they left and we had to tell them to put the sticks down and to leave them on the playground Bradley was the first one to do so.
And that's my pondering for today
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