|
The local concerns
reflected in the completed video had emerged, generally, in the first week's discussion.
Interest was clearly focused on making a video about the local area, rather than
more global issues. Indeed, no interest was shown in 'environmental issues' per
se, but local concerns included the vandalism of public telephones, which
the children didn't approve of, and that the area was not 'clean and tidy'. The
parks were seen as 'getting messy' (Tabrez), and the theme of the neighbouring
field, which it was felt the Council should have turned into a properly-maintained
park, was first mentioned here. There was little agreement on whether or not they
liked the area, but the children knew that a lot of people did not, because
of the frequency of domestic burglaries in the area. Asked why people might burgle
houses, the group quickly produced the answer 'to get money', and asked what they
might want that for, Ryan suggested 'drugs'. Another area of Leeds, Chapeltown,
was seen as a worse place to live, with Yasir saying that there were 'too much
fights going on. They've got guns round there' - a view illustrated by (somewhat
excited) talk of taxis being held up at gunpoint.
The local streets
were deemed not safe to play in, particularly because 'people nick cars and go
mad'. Yasir noted that the speeding ramps promised for the area had not been put
in yet, with Tabrez noting, 'It's a good idea, because the people that joyride
knocked some people over'. The fair which visits Woodhouse Moor - which the children
call 'Hyde Park' - every six months was seen as a more positive thing, although
it didn't come often enough and was 'too dear'. Ryan agreed with Yasir's declared
wish to live in Blackpool, so that they could go to the fair every day.
In the first and
second weeks the children produced some video around the school with a surprising
degree of competence and confidence. This work was intended as video-making 'practice',
but it became apparent that such rehearsal was not particularly necessary. In
the third week we visited the field next to the school, and although in the first
week's discussion the children had expressed neither interest nor concern about
'environmental issues' in the abstract, here they produced several arguments about
the local field, 'naturally' and without prompting, and clearly felt quite strongly
that the dumping of waste, and burning of benches and other matter was bad, and
that the field could and indeed should be made into a much nicer park to
serve the local community. In the following couple of weeks, filming around the
school and in 'Hyde Park', environmental talk was largely limited to some appreciation
of the relative merits of plant life around the school, and a clean, peaceful
park. Comparisons were made, however, between the disappointingly unappealing
field, and the park, which was deemed to be far superior.
In the final week,
the children interviewed each other, on video, in groups of three (one to operate
the camera, one interviewer, one interviewee - all roles being rotated). Some
clips from these appear in the final edited video, but some other comments are
worth noting.
Some of the children
clearly found being on screen a rewarding and positive experience. Amaz, asked
whether he liked to be seen on camera by his schoolmates, said 'I should be proud
of myself'. Omar said he did not like to appear before his friends, 'because I
was ashamed'; but he liked making the video 'very much - because it's fun'. Fozia
too liked making the video, 'because it was interesting'. Asif enjoyed 'learning
about the camera and playing on the swings'. Being in charge of the camera held
a clear appeal, particularly when combined with some human interest. Yasir said
he most liked 'making film of people', whilst Tabrez also liked to operate the
camera, 'because you could film people'.
The project cannot
claim to have heightened environmental awareness across the board, however - at
least not in an explicit sense. Amaz's appreciation of the park, according to
his interview, was entirely due to the fact that he got the chance to play in
it, for example. Nevertheless, all of the children said that they had enjoyed
making the video.
Summary
The initial impression
these children gave was that they were the victims of environmental ennui; they
had heard about the subject on television often enough, and were familiar with
some problems and related terms. However, they had little apparent interest in
it. Their work on the video demonstrated, however, that when faced with environmental
matters on their own doorstep, they became usually eloquent and energised about
the subject. Whilst they remained ambivalent about the area in general, and still
relatively unconcerned about environmentalism as a broader subject, the differences
between the field and the park were clearly quite important to them, and it was
this contrast - suggested by the children themselves, with no adult interventions
- which structured the whole completed video.
|