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Safe Rebellious Places: The Value of Informal Spaces in Schools to Counter the Emotional Silencing of Youth of Color

Mon, April 8, 4:10 to 5:40pm, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Floor: 800 Level, Hall F

Abstract

Drawing on qualitative research with adolescent youth of color, this paper imagines the power and potential of informal youth-driven spaces in schools as sites of safety and of rebellion. Specifically, we examine the racialized and gendered feeling rules that govern the social worlds of schools. We theorize how the presence of informal youth-driven spaces provide a place where students of color can safely express their emotions, experience emotional understanding from their peers, and freely critique the institutional and systemic injustices they experience. Our findings detail the presence of restrictive feeling rules in schools, and the benefits of informal spaces for the emotional lives of youth of color.

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