Youth Leisure, Places, Spaces and Identity

Abstract

Research which the authors have conducted over the years has uncovered a widespread need among mainstream adolescents to escape from time to time from `people and things which bother me' to a favourite place, on their own or with friends (Abbott-Chapman, 2006; Abbott-Chapman & Robertson, 2001, 2009a, b). Places and spaces used by young people for their leisure pursuits, for relaxation and recreation, are better understood in this context. International research conducted among `youth' aged between 13 and 19 years will be the main focus of this chapter, but since place attachments, place memories and place habits are formed in the earliest years the choices and uses of leisure spaces, such as playgrounds, by primary school age children will also be briefly discussed. Many of the teenagers studied by Abbott-Chapman & Robertson (2001, 2009a, 2009b) said they enjoyed being in a place apart in the privacy of their own bedroom, or in favourite places in nature such as the `bush' or the beach, to pursue activities they enjoy away from adult surveillance. In these private places, that allow them to make meaning of the things which are happening around them in the global, post-modern world, the young people said `I can be myself', `I can have my own things around me', `I can relax'. The search for `peace' and `quiet', for relaxation and retreat, among Australian teenagers was initially unexpected, but similar results were revealed in international studies and in other cultural contexts (Robertson & Williams, 2004).