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Derrington 2012 thesis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

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about only being able to share sensitive things with his friends (Chris, appendix<br />

7.1.23, p.376) and the majority talked about friends as the people with whom they<br />

liked sharing activities.<br />

Students from CVC were equally keen to acknowledge that friends were very<br />

important but they were more measured and friends did not feature as the only key<br />

people in their lives. One student felt that they were “quite important. They help out<br />

and everything” (Mark, appendix 7.1.3, p.212) and another said “Yeah they mean a<br />

lot to me, they’ve always been there for me so I’m always going to be there for them”<br />

(David, appendix 7.1.27, p.407).<br />

7.3.1 Reflection<br />

This more measured reaction to the importance of friends from CVC students was<br />

different to The Centre School students and might be linked to their situations at<br />

home. Statistically, students at The Centre School are more likely to have more<br />

complicated and troubled families than mainstream students which would explain<br />

why they would rely more heavily on friends (3.3). This is supported by another<br />

study which asked 4,500 young people about their experiences of growing up in<br />

Britain in the 1990s (Katz, 2000). When asked who they would turn to for emotional<br />

support, only 48% of boys compared to 84% of girls said that they would turn to<br />

friends because ‘this involved no loss of face’ (p.82). However, more boys said that<br />

they would turn to their mothers. The value and use of friends does vary and, it could<br />

be argued, depends on the young person’s family situation.<br />

This could equally be dependent on the student’s school situation as well. The<br />

students who were most guarded about the value of friends were in the mainstream<br />

school. This may be because they do not ‘fit in’ and are not befriended. Perhaps there<br />

is potential for not having friends or acknowledging having friends for fear of being<br />

bullied Students at The Centre school are in a smaller community and have had<br />

problems of fitting in before, which has been recognised, so it might feel easier for<br />

them to be able to admit to needing, and relying on, friends.<br />

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