Children's Perception of Violence Project

At the painting activities which were carried out in company with an art trainer with three groups of children in the age range of 7 to 9, children painted warm-up pictures about positive and negative emotions / situations. After that two main painting activities were made. First one was about the situations that they feel insecure and do not like, second one was about the situations and behaviors that they feel secure and like. Syrian children –unlike children from Turkey- do not pay regard between positive/negative differentiations, give place to more mixed expressions. There are explanations of children’s paintings below.
We find it useful to point out that the statement 'Syrian' does not carry the purpose of discrimination but raising awareness.

SYRIAN YOUNGER GROUP

6 YEARS: "There is a baby doll which has two heads. I have drawn like that because I like it. There is a snake below because I am scared of snakes."
12 YEARS: "There is a snake on the top. I drew feet. There is a snake which is frizzled. There are eyes and also there is a mouth. I drew a feet, because I like it."
7 YEARS: "Happy baby."
7 YEARS: "There is a child in the middle. Policemen are on his two sides. They catched the child. The child did not do anything. Still, they will throw him into jail. After than, they will stab and killed him. There is nobody to rescue his life."
6 YEARS: "She dressed her nice clothes. She is going to her father’s house. Her father lives far away, because her father doesn’t love her. They will talk when she arrives."
7 YEARS: "It’s raining. The police car is bombing everyone."
7-9 YEARS: "There is a baby. There is a tent which is like a house, next to the baby. Baby is eating fish."
10 YEARS: "The baby is eating the fish."
6 YEARS: "The girl was sick from over eating. They are operating her. There is a cat, heart, ball."
10 YEARS: "The girl hold the flower. These are fish and house."
6 YEARS: "I have drawn baby doll. I’ve drawn these to make her beautiful. She is very upset because she is singing Kobane song."
6 YEARS: "I have drawn baby doll. Colorful lines are her dress. (On the left corner) Lines are curtain."
6 YEARS: "There is a dog which is sick and also its three legs were broken. It is insect which have lots of legs. There is a snake, flower and car."
10 YEARS: "I don’t like car nor ball. I like house because if I play ball, the car will crash me. However, if I stay at home, it will not crash. "

SYRIAN OLDER GROUP

7-9 YEARS: "The baby will eat the fish."
11 YEARS: "There is a cat, kurdistan flag, heart, baby, flower. "
12 YEARS: "The girl likes rose. There is a heart. There is a cross. There are sign of heretic. I dont like the sign of the cross."
11 YEARS: "There is a young woman. Besides, there is snake-girl. This is a heart (on the right side)."
12 YEARS: "I like fishes. For this reason, i’ve drawn a fish."
12 YEARS: "This is my brother’s son and house. I do not like neither him nor his house."
12 YEARS: "There are babies, flower and Kurdistan flag."
12 YEARS: "The big shape which looks like the sun is crab. There is a sledge. Snake will eat the woman. "
11 YEARS: "There are house,cat,dog,flower and heart."
12 YEARS: "There is a bus. There is a house. There are children in the house. The woman is going to home for beating her dauhgter, because her daughter have locked the door."
11 YEARS: "He/She is throwing stone to water cannon vehicle. There is a tent which is smoking. There is a ship. There are small police cars."

GROUP I

7-9 YEARS: "We are playing games with my friend at home. I feel good. (What are the things that make you happy?) Playing games."
7-9 YEARS: "We are playing games with my friend at school. I feel good because playing games is good thing. "
7-9 YEARS: "I met my two friends. We are three friends and going to meet my another friend. There is a ball. I said, ‘’Come on! Lets play ball at outdoor! ‘’ I feel good. Playing games feels me good. We are playing at football ground. There is a football ground near to school, but there is no exist in neighborhood."
7-9 YEARS: "My mother hits me and my brother. We feel really bad. My brother and me need to avoid arguing. We have a tablet. My brother plays all day. I say, ‘’give it(tablet) to me, after i finished my homework’’, but he does not. I complain my mother, after than she beat him and he gives me. My brother cries again. After, she beat all of us, and remove the tablet. He answered the question of ‘’What do you need in this situation? What do you prefer instead of beating?’’ ‘’ Do not do it again. Share the tablet’s playing times like one hour an one hour. My mother’s behaviour(beating) affects me in a bad way. She should not do it! She should say give it to me; one hour for your brother an one hour for you.’’"
7-9 YEARS: "There are two men, they are boxing. Box is not a good idea, because do not do it in their homes because you can broke your bones."
7-9 YEARS: "I have planned drawn my friend, but i had not much time. I would play football with my friend. This is his house, i would I called him. After than, we are traveling, we are both playing football and fishing. We are doing these at proper place. We’re going to there with car and taxi. We have a Grand uncle, he hasn’t got a job so we are traveling with him.( Why don’t you travel alone?) Maybe some people can kidnap us. Because my cousin(my uncle’s son was kidnapped.) (You fear about that it happens to you, right?) Yes. (What should you do for avoiding this fear?) Scoundrels ought to suffer. Because there are lots of children in World."

GROUP II

7-9 YEARS:"He is upset because his friends do not let him play with them. (He seems lonely, why did they not let him play?) Because the other children are short and he is very tall. (Could such thing happen?) Yes, it happened in our school."
7-9 YEARS: "This girl plays somewhere and she falls by the stone. She went to a corner and cried there. Then her mother called her and she went back home. Her mom asks why she cried. The girl answers that she fell by the stone and that is why she cried. Her mother said it was not a big deal and that it would soon pass but still her mother was upset for her. (Is it violence here?) Children should play and run freely. They have no right to scatter stones like that. (Children needs playgrounds, don’t they? They need grassy places, without scattered stones. Who is responsible from providing it?) Municipalities."
7-9 YEARS: "It is my birthday, my friends bought me gifts and they decorated the walls."
7-9 YEARS: "My friend sent me a letter, I am so excited to open it. After, I am deciding to throw a party. (What kind of party is it?) My friend sent me a letter for the first time, that is why."
7-9 YEARS: "Here is Hürriyet Bekir Elementary School. It is my birthday and I invited my friends. It has a story too. One day, there was a child. He had a birthday and he wanted to celebrate it in his school. He had his birthday and it made him happy. (Could you celebrate your birthdays in the school?) Yes, my friend did. (Is it something that happens often?) Yes. (Why does it make you happy to celebrate birthdays in school?.) Because when we celebrate it at home, nobody comes. But when we do it in school, there are 30 childen in the class. (Why do not many people come to birthday parties held at home?) Because they’re hard to find. "
7-9 YEARS: "I am at home with my mother. I ask my mother to take me to the playground. It is my first time there and it is very beautiful. ( Do you feel happy when you go to the playground and have a place to play in?) Yes I do."
7-9 YEARS: "This girl had a birthday party, her friends came to throw a party. They put decorations 0above. They gave their gifts. Then their friend became happy."
7-9 YEARS: "Here, the child goes outside. He looks around and realises that his friends are preparing a birthday party for him."
7-9 YEARS: "The teacher beats up the child. The other child walks away and laughs. (Can you see two negative behaviours here?) Yes, the teacher beats up the child and the other one laughs."
7-9 YEARS: "A child beats up the other child, another one throws him into the water."
7-9 YEARS: "The house belongs to the child who lives there. He does not want the Syrian child passing in front of it. He calls his friends and the four children beat up the Syrian child. The child tells them to beat him more. Then his father comes and tells them to not to beat him up as they had no right to do such a thing. The other ones ask why he passed in front of their homes. His father says “you have no such right, people can pass wherever they want”. (Which side is right here?) The Syrian child and his dad. (Do you witness such things?) An elder child hit a young Syrian child and made him cry. (Do they beat him up just because he is Syrian). Well, they would not like it if we were Syrians too and we would beat them up. He cannot hit the others because he has no right to do so."
7-9 YEARS: "The child goes to fly a kite on a sunny day. He came home crying because his kite broke. ( Do you think is it a misfortune or violence) It was misfortune because it happened due to a lack of wind and sunshine."
7-9 YEARS: "The child fell down by the stone. The other child fell down too. They both felt sorry for each other. (Is there any violence here?) Yes, the Stones does not suppose to be there. They should be away. If stones were made piled up, there would not be any problem. (Municipalities are responsible from such things, are not they?) Yes, they are."
7-9 YEARS: "There is a school and the children are outside. One child bumped into another. And another boy beat up the boy by his side. (What makes you upset here? Can you explain?) They are fighting and the other one get upset because of their fight. The children beat up each other and even a teacher comes and he beats up children toor."
7-9 YEARS: "They are killing people here. There is a man with a gun in his hand, he killed the other man. Then another one says “I wish they did not kill the other”. I wish they did not kill me. Everybody in the building turned off the lights. (Why?) Because they do not want thieves to see them. (Who is the other one?) He prepared to go to the outside and saw the man who was shooting. He said he wished nobody had died. Also, this girl’s heart beats very fast. (Did she get excited?) Yes (Why did she think that she would be killed?) Because this man had a gun, maybe he would see her and kill her. Besides, he has no right to kill people."
7-9 YEARS: "The three girls were in school. They promised each other to go to one of their houses and play with a skipping rope. The blue one did not want to play with it because she wanted to play hide and seek. They said “But you promised”. It has a story too. “What is happiness?” Happiness means play, fun, whatever on the earth. For instance, the children below are playing with the skipping rope. These are the games that they like. Being happy makes people beautiful. Even though she does not want to, the blue girl is playing with the skipping rope because she promised her friends. She knew that if she did not keep the promise that she gave th her friends would get hurt."
7-9 YEARS: "Here I am, happy and beautiful. (What do children need to be happy?) When their friends do not dismiss them and do not swear at them then they would be in a better place."
7-9 YEARS: "Here is the school and it is the birthday party of my friend. We are having it at school, in our school garden. We brought cake and other kind of food. My friends held balloons and then they released them. Birds were circling around the balloons. (Do you like celebrating birthdays too?) Yes, I do. (What does it mean to celebrating birthday?) You become happy, you have a new age. You feel happy as your friends come to your birthday party and eat your birthday cake."

GROUP III

7-9 YEARS: "Someone kidnaps the other one then he takes her to the woods. He cuts her hand, he has already held a knife in his hand. Nobody realizes it. Someone comes and sees that her hand was cut. She has no arm anymore. (How does it come to your mind?) From the TV shows, horror movies."
7-9 YEARS: "I am at the class. Our teacher is writing on the board. We are writing too. She teaches us. I do not like noise. That is why I draw a peaceful class"
7-9 YEARS: "There was a house. The men attacked the house but nothing happened. There were guns inside the house. Another group of men attacked them with guns. They died."
7-9 YEARS: "The school bell rang, we are coming back to home. We are around the gas station. We saw an apple tree. We are trying to pick apples with my friends. My friend’s mother called him, my friend suggested that I go with him. Then it became evening and they forgot their homework. There was evening again, they picked up lots of apples. He picked one for me and another for his brother. The others did not appear so he forgot to pick for them. A man around the coffee house saw them and got angry at them. There were security guards there too, they attacked him while the children were trying to pick apples. The security guard lets his dog out and they run away."
7-9 YEARS: "Here is the desk of the teacher, the other desks, this one is mine. My name is Ciguli."
7-9 YEARS: "Here is the market, the man next to it is Superman. Superman is saving someone, she gets silent without screaming then she goes to her house. (Superman saves who?) A woman. (he saves her from what?) From kidnapping."
7-9 YEARS: "Here is my friend swears at me. I tell her that I would tell her to my mother. Then she runs away."
7-9 YEARS: "I get angry when my friends beat me up in the class. They scribble on the door, they scribble on the windows. They beat up my friend and tell the teacher. Then the teacher beats up all of us. It is what happened today."
7-9 YEARS: "We were going to school. After we came to school, my teacher was very angry and my teachers beat up all of us. (Did you deserve such thing?) No we did not deserve. I did not talk, but everybody was talking then our teacher beat up all of us. ( Did the others deserve it?) Yes they did. (Do other people deserve beating up?) Yes. (When do they deserve?) When they make their mothers very angry."
7-9 YEARS: "It is evening time, I am going to my uncle’s with my dad. We are passing a bridge. The waves throw water to us. Clouds gather in the sky. Then, we are coming back home. We saw a stone there. It was thin and shapeless. We saw a climbing wall too and something to jump with. Then I met my friend there. We came there together with my friend."
7-9 YEARS: "My friend took one of my belongings at school. We told the principle but my friend did not confess. We ran after the child. We his mother but his mother did not believe us either. Then some children came out, they were Syrian. We did not do anything wrong but they called Syrians. Syrians caught us and punched us."
7-9 YEARS: "We are passing the bridge. Then suddenly, something happened. I hold my mouth and nose. I said I did not want to pass the bridge, I asked to go to somewhere else. Then we went to another place. There was lots of traffic. Then we got the green light and drove away from there."
7-9 YEARS: "There are men. They are breaking every part of the house. Then they put colorful things on the windows. (Why do they break the house?) Because they are burglars. (What are these flying things?) They are balloons."
7-9 YEARS: "My friends play in the garden. They are waiting for me. I told my friend a secret but she told it to others. I got upset and hurt. She started laughing."
7-9 YEARS: "I am playing with ball in the playground. Then there happened a war. In the last war, they scrabbled the whole world. At last I and my friend died."
7-9 YEARS: "We are playing with ball in the rain. We come back to school and have our class when the bell rings. Then we are playing “the silence game”. The ones who get prizes go and buy gifts for themselves. A child is approaching us and lying by saying that we talked during the game. He is lying to the teacher too. The teacher is saying that we cheated in the game. We are saying we did not. The teacher is not believing us. After the school, we are coming back to our homes. I am playing with a ball and hide and seek with my friends. We are coming back to the home when it rains. (Which part do you like here?) Gifts."
7-9 YEARS: "My dream is coming to my neighborhood, gathering all my friends, and declaring war against the other children. We are throwing weapons and my other friends are throwing bombs by the planes. There is my house. Someone injured his arm and he is going back home now. Now there are two people at home, they are treating his arm. (Why do you want to fight?) I have not seen such thing in my dreams, such a thing has not happened in real life either. (What is the part do you like?) Being with my friends."
7-9 YEARS: "I came back from the school. I won a medal in the chess tournament. I took permission from my mother. I would have called my friend and we would have gone to the playground. She went there before me. I showed her my medal then we played games."

EXERCISES

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7-9 YEARS: "It is me as a clown. I am happy."
7-9 YEARS: "I have a house, I do not live alone. (Who do you live with?) My mother, my father and my siblings. (Who is this?) He is a man. (He seems like a tall man) Yes, because he is one hundred years old."
7-9 YEARS: "The fruits I like most are cherry, pear, apple and strawberry. (Here are the fruits but who are these people?)"
7-9 YEARS:
7-9 YEARS: "We were driving. We set up tent in the forest. We set it up alone but someone came and broke it. We saw him but nobody believed us. They blamed us for doing it. I threw a matchstick there, it burned."
7-9 YEARS: "An unhappy clown."
7-9 YEARS: "We gathered and made a circle. Then our teacher came to the middle and sang a song while we were sitting. (Was this moment sad or happy?) It was a happy moment."
7-9 YEARS: "We went to the playground with Enes. There was a tree there. We were picking plums from it. A policeman came and he had his dog attack us. Then there was another child who punched us. The policemen took the sides of the other children and they were hitting us too. They were protecting the other children. We were running away from them. There was a girl with us, she swore at us."
7-9 YEARS:
7-9 YEARS: "There is a house. Men are performing maintenance work on it. The sun is above."
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7-9 YEARS: "A girl looks at the sun in the spring. She wants to look at the sun because it shines very bright."
7-9 YEARS: "We went somewhere. We wanted to buy toy cars but my mother did not let us. 50 lira and 12 lira were written on the toy cars. But she bought plates instead."
7-9 YEARS: "We were in the car. There were parking lots. We wanted to play. We were coming back home. I told my father to stop the car. He did not stop, he said there was no parking lot here. I said we could leave the car here. He said no then we went to home immediately. I got upset."
7-9 YEARS: "We are at home. There are grassy fields. I am playing with my brother.(?) He comes back home then I release a balloon. I call my brother after, he does not come, he eats his meal at home."
7-9 YEARS: "I draw strawberry because I like strawberry."