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Ungdom flest i Norge er aktive på fritiden, men hvem som er med på hva – fra idrettslag til fritidsklubb – har sammenheng med kjønn, sosioøkonomisk bakgrunn og hvor en bor i landet. Barnekonvensjonen slår fast at barn har rett til fritid og lek, men ulike barrierer hindrer at alle barn og unge faktisk får deltatt. Her er ny norsk forskning som viser trender og årsaker til deltagelse på og frafall fra fritidsarenaen for unge i dag.

Ungdom i endring er et forskningsprogram ved NOVA-OsloMet der vi følger de samme ungdommene gjennom ungdomstida. Det unike kvalitative longitudinelle forskningsdesignet gir oss mulighet til å undersøke hvordan ulikhet mellom unge mennesker skapes og opprettholdes i Norge i dag. Her viser vi noen funn fra de to første datainnsamlingene.

Rapporten undersøker tilhørighet, trivsel og framtidsplaner til ungdom som bor i Distrikts-Norge, og sammenligner med unge andre steder i landet. Distriktsungdoms oppvekst er preget av tilhørighet og en aktiv fritid, og psykiske helseplager er mindre utbredt. Men det er også mer mobbing og mistrivsel med lokalmiljøet i distriktene, og det er særlig jenter som er utsatt.

Tre av ti norske ungdommer i alderen 13-16 år går regelmessig på fritidsklubb eller ungdomshus, og bare den organiserte idretten er mer populær som fritidsaktivitet for denne aldersgruppen. Denne rapporten viser at fritidsklubber og ungdomshus spiller en viktig, men uformell rolle i kommunenes folkehelsearbeid rettet mot ungdom.

Rapporten undersøker hvordan ungdommer erfarte og håndterte samfunnets nedstenging under koronapandemien våren 2020. Vi beskriver ungdommers tilfredshet med livet under koronanedstengingen og hva som bidrar til å forklare ungdommenes ulike erfaringer. Vi undersøker også ungdommenes handlingsrom under nedstengingen sett i et medborgerskapsperspektiv. Studien bygger på den kvalitative longitudinelle intervjustudien Ungdom i endring.

NOVAs evaluering av de to første årene av ordningen med fylkesvise mobbeombud for barnehage og grunnskole viser at ombudene bidrar til bedre involvering av barn og foreldre i saker som gjelder det psykososiale miljøet i disse institusjonene. Ombudenes ulike tolkninger av det nasjonale mandatet for ordningen kan likevel føre til at tilbudet blir ulikt for barn og unge som bor i forskjellige fylker.

Denne rapporten handler om kjønnsmønstre i ungdoms organiserte og uorganiserte fritid, og om likestillingsutfordringer knytta til dette. Rapporten er basert på den kvalitative longitudinelle intervjustudien Ungdom i endring, med intervjuer av 81 ungdommer fra ulike steder i Norge. Rapporten viser at det er tydelige kjønnede mønstre i unges valg av fritidsaktiviteter. Med unntak av sosiale medier, holder gutter og jenter sjelden på med aktiviteter sammen med noen av det motsatte kjønn. Dette gjelder både organiserte og uorganiserte aktiviteter. Det er nesten bare gutter som sier de ønsker å satse på sin idrett. De guttene som er minst aktive, ser ut til å slite mer enn de minst aktive jentene med vennskap og inkludering. Publikasjonen kan bestilles, pris kr.100

Har gutter og jenter lik mulighet til deltakelse i fritidsaktiviteter? I denne rapporten undersøkes dette spørsmålet i en gjennomgang av norske og nordiske forskningsbidrag fra de siste ti årene. Gutter og jenter velger ulike fritidsaktiviteter, men dette er ikke nødvendigvis et likestillingsproblem. Slike problemer kan likevel finnes i barne- og ungdomsidretten, hvor normer for hvordan gutter og jenter bør være og oppføre seg, ser ut til å følge av idrettens tradisjon for å organisere lag og idretter etter kjønn. Publikasjonen kan bestilles, pris kr. 110

Etter Reform 94 har de videregående skolene i Norge fått et økt ansvar for at flest mulig unge gjennomfører videregående opplæring. Samtidig er skolenes mandat for frafallsforebygging uklart, og det er opp til ledelsen og andre aktører i skolen å operasjonalisere og avgrense ansvaret. Til tross for dette er skolelederes perspektiver på frafall nesten fraværende i frafallsforskningen. I denne artikkelen, som bygger på intervjuer med representanter for skoleledelsen ved 42 videregående skoler i fire norske fylker, undersøker vi hvordan skolelederne formulerer og fortolker sitt mandat i det frafallsforebyggende arbeidet. Analysene viser et tematisk spenn mellom en bred mandatsforståelse der alle typer utfordringer skal håndteres i skolen, til avgrensning av et smalere opplæringsmandat og en holdning om at «denne eleven skulle ikke vært her». Dette gjelder særlig i tilfeller hvor elevers psykiske helse omtales som årsak til frafall.

Artikkelen undersøker hvor mange ungdommer som opplever prestasjons-press på ulike områder og hvor mange som har problemer med å takle presset de står overfor. Et viktig funn er den store variasjonen som finnes mellom ungdom. Et mindretall opplever press på mange områder og rundt en av ti har betydelige problemer med å takle press i hverdagen. Jenter er mer utsatt for press enn gutter og flere jenter enn gutter har problemer med å takle høyt press. Sammenhengen mellom hvor mye press ungdom opplever og problemer med å takle press er aller sterkest blant de som bruker mye tid på sosiale medier. Funnene i artikkelen, som er basert på ungdataundersøkelser gjen-nomført over hele landet (N=159 520), bidrar til å nyansere forestillingen om en ungdomsgenerasjon der flertallet er utsatt for et massivt press og som ikke har den nødvendige kapasiteten til å håndtere presset de er utsatt for.

In recent decades, there has been an increase in self-reported internalising mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, among young people in many Western countries, including Norway. The aim of this study has been to increase knowledge about the prevalence and the reasons behind the increase in self-reported mental health problems among adolescents in Oslo, and how youths experience mental health problems. Analytically foregrounding gender, we have explored the relationship between mental health problems and pressure related to school, body image and social media use, and how demands in these different areas affect the lives of adolescent girls and boys. We have also studied how adolescents interpret questions about mental health problems asked in large surveys, and to what extent they experience that these questions address problematic issues for the youths who are affected. The report draws on mixed methods. Firstly, it is based on six focus group interviews with 29 boys and girls in tenth form, approximately 15 years old, in two different environments in Oslo. Additionally, it is based on a large survey, Ung i Oslo 2015, where questions about stress related to school, body image and social media are included. The study shows that adolescents understand symptoms of mental health problems as stress-related. Moreover, the adolescents understand the questions about mental health problems that are asked in the large surveys mainly as deeply problematic for those that are affected. They interpret most of the questions to be related to mental issues, although a question about having trouble sleeping is slightly more ambiguous, as the adolescents also relate this to staying up because of school work or social media. Primarily, the adolescents understand the questions to relate to the daily hassles and nonstop pressure from school and other arenas where they need to perform. Many also talk about a strong, but vague sense of worry and unease about the future, related to their further education and career. Both boys and girls understand stress as something that affects the body, and girls in particular talk about how stress may be painfully and intensely felt in the body, as well as affecting their thoughts and emotions. Secondly, the study demonstrates that the adolescents primarily understand the stress to originate in school. In the interviews, both girls and boys describe school-related stress as the strongest, and the quantitative analyses show that there is a close relationship between mental health problems and experienced school stress. Many girls in particular experience school-related stress. There are also many girls who experience stress related to body image, although this is more ambiguous than school pressure. Whereas the adolescents interpret school pressure as unequivocally negative, activities where they experience body pressure, such as sports and use of social media, are more mixed, as they incorporate both stress and negative emotions as well as being a source of relaxation, community and joy. De siste tiårene har det vært en økning i selvrapporterte psykiske helseplager, særlig blant unge jenter. Målet med rapporten har vært å få mer kunnskap om hva som ligger bak denne økningen. Ved hjelp av fokusgruppeintervjuer med ungdom og analyser av Ung i Oslo 2015 har vi utforsket sammenhenger mellom psykiske helseplager og skolepress, kroppspress og sosiale medier. Hovedfunn fra prosjektet er at ungdommene knytter symptomene på psykiske helseplager til stress, og at det er skolesituasjonen som er tettest knyttet til ungdommers stressrelaterte psykiske helseplager. Det er også mange som opplever et utseendepress, særlig jenter, og det er en relativt sterk sammenheng mellom kroppsbilde og depressive symptomer.

In 2012, elective subjects were reinstated in Norwegian lower secondary school in an effort to make lower secondary school more motivational, practical and varied for the pupils. NOVA has assessed whether the reinstatement of elective subjects helps reach this goal. The study is financed by The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training. The report is based on interviews with pupils, teachers and school leaders at 12 lower secondary schools in the north, west and east of Norway. Some classes have been observed. We also employ survey data from 220 school leaders. Main findings The elective subjects are very popular amongst pupils, teachers and leaders. Many pupils choose the same elective subjects, but boys and girls choose differently. In many lower secondary schools the elective subjects receive little economic resources and equipment, but teachers’ enthusiasm often play a key role. Few teachers and leaders use or know about national guidelines and resources. Teachers and leaders do not perceive mixed classes as problematic. Teachers and leaders think marking is difficult and problematic in the elective subjects. The elective subjects seem to be «kindling a flame» of school motivation in the pupils. Popular elective subjects The elective subjects are very popular amongst pupils, teachers and leaders. Teachers claim that the subjects “kindle a flame” of school motivation in the pupils – and in themselves. The elective subjects are popular mainly because they are practical and because they present a break from ordinary subjects. Pupils, teachers and leaders alike think the elective subjects enhance school motivation. Some pupils, who are not theoretically inclined or interested in physical activity, may struggle also in the elective subjects. Pupils with little school motivation and a low academic level seem to experience less well being in the elective subjects than other pupils. The choices of elective subjects There are 14 different elective subjects, but most of the pupils attend only three: Physical activity and health, Production for hall and stage, and Design and redesign. It is chiefly the teachers’ interest and qualifications that determine which subjects are offered, but school leaders also aim to take pupils’ choices into account when deciding which subjects to offer. Pupils’ choices are shaped by the school’s official information about the subject, rumours about teachers and subjects, their friends’ choices, and where they are most likely to achieve good grades. Boys and girls also choose differently. Within the subjects, the pupils’ possibilities for choosing tasks vary. Resources In many lower secondary schools, the elective subjects have little economic resources and equipment, but teachers’ enthusiasm often play a key role. Although lack of finances may be a problem, most find that they manage to make the elective subjects varied, motivational and practical, largely because of the teachers’ interest, creativity, and enthusiasm. Most teachers think that they have sufficient competencies to teach the elective subjects. Subject curriculum The same subject is taught in different ways in different schools. It is mostly the teachers who develop the subject curriculum, and the shape each elective subject takes in different schools seems to be influenced by the particular teachers’ interests and competencies. Many find the core curriculum to be highly general, which may lead to difficulties in developing the subject curriculum as well as in marking. Few teachers and leaders use or know about national guidelines and resources. Teachers are generally conscious about making the subjects practical and varied. Mostly, the pupils also find the subjects practical and varied. That the subjects are meant to be interdisciplinary is rarely seen as a challenge for the teachers. Mixed classes Pupils can choose a new elective subject each year, or stay with the same for several years. The elective subjects may therefore have classes with a mix of pupils of different levels and age in the same group. Teachers and leaders do not perceive mixed classes as problematic. Some view mixed groups as a potential strength for the pupils, both academically and socially. Difficult marks Whereas the pupils mostly appreciate marks in the elective subjects because the prospect of being marked gives them a goal and a possibility to better their average mark, teachers and leaders think marking in the elective subjects is difficult and problematic. They are commonly worried for possible consequences, such as that marking may work against the aim of varied, motivational and practical elective subjects. Some teachers and leaders are more positive, and think that marks could secure the elective subjects’ legitimacy. Many think that pass/not pass would be more a more appropriate way to mark the elective subjects. Norske myndigheter har de senere årene satt i verk flere satsinger i grunnopplæringen som skal bidra til å løse problemet med det man oppfatter som mange elevers manglende skolemotivasjon. Praksis og variasjon har vært stikkord for mange av disse satsingene. Ett av tiltakene er innføringen av valg på ungdomstrinnet. I denne rapporten undersøker vi om valgfagene har bidratt til å gjøre ungdomsskolen mer motiverende, praktisk og variert for elevene. Videre undersøker vi hvordan vurderingsordningen i valgfagene fungerer i praksis. Valgfagsordningen ble innført fra skoleåret 2012–13 for elever på 8. trinn og ble utvidet trinnvis slik at alle ungdomsskoleelever får opplæring i valgfag fra og med skoleåret 2014–15.

The aim of this study is to gain more knowledge about the psychosocial environment in Norwegian primary and lower secondary education. It consists of two parts. In the first part, we studied the schools’ use of intervention programmes for reducing bullying and fostering a better psychosocial environment. This report presents the second part of the study. It examines schools’ alternative strategies for fostering a sound psychosocial environment and reducing bullying, and challenges related to these strategies. The report is based on in-depth interviews with school management and teachers at 20 primary and lower secondary schools, and ethnographic fieldwork in six school classes in four of the schools. The majority of students in those school classes were interviewed. The schools were selected because they had reported a positive change in the school environment as a consequence of their own strategic involvement. Main findings The study shows that the schools employ three main strategies to foster a better psychosocial student environment: behaviour regulation, relation work and creating a sense of student community. Despite challenges and dilemmas within all three strategies, staff and students report that these strategies have positive implications for the school environment. Strategy 1: Behaviour regulation Behaviour regulation is a central strategy for all of the schools, first and foremost seen in terms of classroom management. Teachers exact a firm discipline in the classroom, but the discipline is usually combined with warmth and care. This “caring control» is an ideal among the staff, but also a common practice in the schools. When it comes to break times, an enhanced and specialised teacher monitoring is seen as particularly valuable to prevent bullying. However, the study shows that behaviour regulation is insufficient in dealing with each and every negative incident happening in schools – many incidents go unnoticed by teachers. It is also insufficient because the greatest challenges in school environments are quiet, relational forms of bullying or troubles, and these challenges are not affected by behavioural regulation in class or break time. Strategy 2: Relation work Relation workrelates to creating good relationship between teachers and students and between school and parents. The ideal of a good teacher among the staff is a teacher who is able to build relations with students. Teachers most successfully build positive relations with students by prioritising to work on such relations, trying to deliberately perceive the students in a positive way, strengthening positive behaviour rather than sanctioning negative behaviour, and for the management to support the relation work. As for relation work with parents, the same rules apply to some extent, but there is a greater emphasis on providing the parents with the tools and resources that may enable them to recognise instances of bullying or unwanted behaviour in their own and other peoples’ children. The most important principle is that the school staff are conscious of their responsibility for both types of relationships. Strategy 3: Social activities Social activities aimed at creating a sense of community is the third main strategy, and relates to how positive relations are created between the students. Compared to the other two strategies, this is far less developed and there are fewer measures that seem to work as intended. Some functional measures are introduction and mentor arrangements when students start school. Especially reinforced introduction arrangements seem to work well to enhance student relationships. However, the interventions used are mostly directed towards the community of the whole school, and not the class – which is the most relevant social arena for the students. While it is a common practice for school classes to go on excursions and trips together, such excursions are as likely to improve the relations between students as they are to reinforce negative dynamics between them, if not conscious measures are taken to avoid this. Lacking strategy: Establishing positive relations between students All the schools in our study share the same recurring challenges, particularly relational aggression or hidden, repeated instances of bullying. The main strategies of behaviour regulation and relation work are not sufficient to deal with these challenges, and intervention strategies to create a sense of community between the students are not sufficiently developed. The study directs the attention towards the necessity of creating the class as a collective, with positive relations between the students. The schools’ mandate is shaped by their definition and understanding of bullying The schools share an ambition to handle all incidents that appear as negative occurrences in the school environment, and they are mostly successful in this pursuit. Nevertheless, the study shows that those occurrences that do fall outside of what the schools interpret as their mandate to handle are mostly related to the staff’s definitions and understandings of bullying. In particular, it relates to the way the staff define bullying as negative occurrences over time and in an unequal power balance, and the way students involved in bullying are assumed to be clearly recognisable as perpetrator or victim. By this definition, painful conflicts where the teachers assume a power balance between students, or occurrences of bullying behaviour without clear perpetrators or victims, are not always recognized as bullying instances that require intervention. Moreover, relational aggression is one of the toughest challenges that schools deal with in the school environment, and the staff are by far most concerned about girls’ relational aggression. However, interviews with boys show that they, too, are troubled by relational aggression, but lack the language and tools to speak about it; thus boys’ experiences with this are often overlooked. Dette er andre rapport fra prosjektet «En studie av elevenes psykososiale miljø». Rapporten utforsker virksomme strategier og utfordringer i grunnskolers arbeid med å skape et godt psykososialt miljø for elevene, og problemforståelser og definisjoner av mobbing og krenkelser blant elever, lærere og skoleledere. Rapporten baserer seg på intervjuer og observasjoner ved skoler som jobber intensivt og systematisk med det psykososiale miljøet, og viser at tre strategier går igjen på tvers av skoler: atferdsregulering, relasjonsarbeid og sosiale aktiviteter. Rapporten peker også på noen utfordringer som ikke blir oppdaget, og utfordringer som er vanskelige å løse – «blinde flekker» og «harde nøtter» i skolenes arbeid med det psykososiale miljøet.

Dette er første rapport fra prosjektet «En studie av elevenes psykososiale miljø». Målet er dels å gi en uavhengig vurdering av effektstudiene av antimobbe- og læringsmiljøprogrammer i norsk skole, dels å analysere bruken av programmene i praksis. Vår konklusjon er at evalueringene har varierende kvalitet, samtidig som vi etterlyser mer kunnskap om hva barn og unge legger i mobbebegrepet når de svarer på spørreskjemaet. På skolene er det generelt stor oppslutning om arbeidet med skolemiljøprogrammer, og svært mange bruker dem i kombinasjon med andre tiltak. Et slikt pragmatisk programarbeid kan være fruktbart for skolene, men bidrar til å vanskeliggjøre evalueringer av det enkelte programs effekter. Prosjektet er et samarbeid mellom AFI og NOVA og finansiert av Utdanningsdirektoratet.

This PhD thesis explores how ethnicity is formed and lived in the context of a multiethnic high school in Norway, at a crossroads where four central axes meet: Norwegian equality goals, new demands for skills at school, changing ethnic relations, and youth. The thesis examines what consequences forms of ethnicity shaped at this crossroads have for high school pupils’ possibilities for individual development and different senses of belonging. The study is based on participant observation over a period of five months in a school class in first grade of high school, and in-depth interviews with 26 pupils in this class, where the majority were girls and minority ethnic pupils. The pupils were 15-16 years old. The analysis draws on postcolonial theories to grasp power and structures, and narrative theories to conceptualise aspects of identity and emotions. A theory of affective practices provides a site of analysis of lived ethnicity and aspects of power, negotiations and possibilities for change. A central finding is that the strong, locally situated sense of ethnicity that the pupils created was entangled with, but somewhat untied from, ‘race’ and background countries. Being called ‘Norwegian’ or ‘foreigner’ respectively was not necessarily about ethnicity in the sense of a background culture. The pupils created ‘ethnic packages’ where e.g. certain skin colours, slang, specific sexuality mores and classroom behaviour were salient, but not essential resources to become a recognised member of each group. Integral to the process of creating local ethnic collectives, was the formation of collective narratives. Typically, ethnic minority pupils would be narrated as noisy and low achievers and the girls as sexually virtuous. Ethnic Norwegians would be narrated as good pupils and the girls as sexually active. There was a strong tendency to re-narrate many aspects of life – for example ideals of gender equality, school attitude and skill, and sexuality – as having to do with ethnicity. The school lacked clear borders in pedagogy and architecture, which demanded of the pupils an ability to contain and discipline themselves. This opened a room for a group of space-claiming, visible and noisy minority girls. These girls performed an aggressive relational noisiness, which in form drew on gangster imagery, in need expressed frustration, disentitlement from success in a perceived Norwegian school and a need for protection from indignity. For the pupils who did not make as much noise, the combination of noisy school days, high demands and internal or external pressure was hard. Despite the school’s emphasis on self-discipline, this trait was hard to find in the pupils – but where it was found, it was laced with toil and sadness. The loose school structure seemed to be geared towards pupils with a larger capacity for self-discipline and more opportunities for support from parents than the majority of its actual pupils. That the differences in school attitude and skill were conceived as related to ethnicity, might limit the pupils’ possibilities for conceiving alternative trajectories for oneself. In the particular meeting between different forms of belonging and becoming, and as a manifestation of Norway’s official gender equality aim and its coexistence with changing demographics, the study describes a girl position that defies the common media image of quiet, even oppressed, ethnic minority girls. Measured against Norwegian equality aims, many ethnic minority girls challenged gendered borders in the school’s classroom in terms of visibility and aggression, but they simultaneously limited girls’ possibilities in terms of sexuality. For them, a perceived lack of institutional power and group homogeneity seemed to be rectified in the enactments of local power and the construction of a morally better group than the ethnic Norwegians, especially regarding sexuality. On the other hand, the most typical female ethnic Norwegian sexuality appeared more legitimate in relation to the school’s teachers and curriculum.

The main question I structure my investigation around is how society’s sexual mores and conceptions of masculinity influenced the way in which men could be intimate friends in the last part of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth. Analyzing one short story and two novels that celebrate, illustrate, and at times question male friendship and its borders, my methodology is partly inspired by some important directions in modern literary theory, namely reader-response theory and new historicism. Moreover, theories on gender, specifically men’s studies, queer theory, and feminist theory, are ubiquitous and form the most important groundwork this thesis rests on. Written from different temporal, cultural, racial, geographical, and class based viewpoints, my chosen literary works are Bret Harte’s short story “Tennessee's Partner” (1869), William Dean Howells’s novel The Shadow of a Dream (1890), and Claude McKay’s novel Home to Harlem (1928).