The art of inclusion

What does it take to be a good community artist? Well, all sorts of things, but for me the most important is the ability to understand and care about people; observing, listening, talking and above all being respectful.

I recently wrote about an incident of social exclusion that my daughter had experienced at the dance class she attends and how these experiences can affect our confidence as an adult. The young dance teacher is great at teaching routines, but appears to give no consideration to the social wellbeing of children in the group, whether that be observing any peer hierarchy, exclusion, bullying or general unhappiness.

All arts practitioners and organisations dealing with children and young people want their participants to enjoy themselves. The last thing anyone would want is for a fun activity to become a source of social pressure for a child. What is frustrating is that with the correct policies, procedures and training it can be easily nipped in the bud, before it gets to the point of a child leaving the activity. However, all too often the art-form overtakes the social nurturing of an individual.

I help run a music project called Rock It! for children and young people aged 12-18 and volunteers up to age 21 (and their parents/guardians). We have a rigid child protection/anti-bullying policy in place, and our participants have developed their own house rules, which basically dictate that nobody on the project should be an idiot to anyone else.

All our young volunteers, many of whom become trainee professional music leaders in the project, are trained in peer mentoring and taught how to watch out for signs of tension, exclusion and possible bullying. We have allocated peer mentors that participants can go to if they want to discuss any worries they may have and would prefer not to talk to an adult. These mentors have a clear system to follow, knowing when to inform staff so that matters can be dealt with discreetly.

We never dismiss the concerns of participants, volunteers or parents. What could seem trivial to one person may be a source of much stress for another. A recent Ofsted survey found that 58% of children in primary school and 42% in secondary suffer some form of bullying at one time or another. The best schools are those that not only have a comprehensive written policy, but also systematically implement, train and remind their staff, children and parents about it. They take complaints seriously and act quickly on any signs of trouble. It’s hardly rocket science but all too often in practice the child protection or anti-bullying policy can be written and then left unused.

Of course, teachers and arts practitioners can’t change the fundamental attitudes of a child whose parents drill certain unattractive views into them. If a child has been taught that it’s OK to pick on those that are weaker, or told that it’s acceptable to turn their backs on other children they deem unworthy of their friendship, then it’s going to happen. But with the right amount of consideration and common sense, just for that session – that hour or two hours – someone who cares enough can allow room for the outsider to be as important, cherished and equal in a quiet voice as all the loud voices of the over confident in-crowd.