Invisible Girls and Visible Boys at a Swedish Community School: How Children’s Leisure Is Talked About in Terms of (Vulnerable) Places and Gender

The purpose of this study was to investigate if and how the perspective on children’s leisure time within a Swedish community school differs in terms of gender. The empirical material draws from a case study of one community school where interviews with employees were conducted to answer the research questions. The interviews were analysed using a theoretical framework of today’s public governance, with a particular interest in place- and gender-specific interventions. The results show that initiatives directed towards children’s free time are discussed as a strategy to organise free time in the area. In summary, children’s free time within the community school is discussed in terms of risk due to the predominant notions of the area as plagued by violent masculinity that affects both boys and girls. Additionally, the construct of gender depends to a high degree on that notion. Girls are seen as invisible, whereas boys are seen as (too) visible. It seems that girls are understood as being in need of activities due to their home conditions, whereas boys are understood as being in danger of other socially degrading activities that take place in the school’s surrounding streets.