Creating children's play spaces as landscapes, nurtured together by "adults" and "children."
CforC is a program run by PIECES that fosters local citizenship.
These are essays written by participants about the personal changes and wishes they felt through the program.
Citizenship for Children(hereinafter CforC)
This is a program that fosters local citizenship, conducted by the certified NPO PIECES, which has a mission to eliminate the isolation of children's hearts. Through the fostering and empowerment of the citizenship of people involved in children's daily lives, it creates a foundation where flexible and proactive actions can emerge for children from various backgrounds.
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CforCI participated in because I wanted to look back on the activities of creating children's play spaces in my local area that I had been involved in until now.
For about eight years, I had been involved in running a children's play space held once a month at a nearby park, but the year before last, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, subsidies from the local government were reduced, and I found myself in a situation where the number of days held per year was halved.
While searching for a breakthrough with the management members, we went to petition the ward mayor and collected donations. Although we received many words of encouragement from the parents and children who came to the play space, time passed without us feeling any real progress.
Why is this play space needed here?
For whom and for what purpose is it needed?
Even when I tried to appeal for that, I felt that it was difficult to find a powerful phrase within the framework of "child-rearing support."
It was an activity I had enjoyed doing until now, and an activity I had been doing because I thought it was important, but when I was pushed into a pinch and looked back, I wondered if I hadn't produced any visible results...
Wasn't the evidence lacking to appeal to society about something...
Did I need expertise or a title to be sufficiently persuasive...
I want to be on the side of children.
But I'm not really that fond of children myself...
Is there any meaning in me working hard here...
Wouldn't it be fine if this place disappeared...
Negative feelings, reflections, and doubts welled up one after another. When I had spent about half a year in such a situation, I happened to find the
CforC program. Attracted by the phrase "citizenship that values children, oneself, and the community," I decided to participate.
With each reflection, which was one of the programs, what became realized was my wish to "believe in the power of children." My belief that "it is important for me to be happy first."
I was someone who was disgusted by the sometimes excessive enthusiasm for education and the abundance of information about children in the world.
The future of children is important, but
couldn't adults show their backs a little more?
Couldn't adults enjoy themselves more too?
I felt that such feelings had led me to create a local play space.
CforCWhat I remember most from the seminar was the session wherethe town's landscape and children were the theme. The lecturer, Mr. Takita, talked about his experience of feeling a little lighter or energized when he rode his bicycle home while looking at the sea on a night when he was tired from work.
-Being healed by the landscape-
Although it is something everyone has probably experienced, I realized once again that children must also be able to feel various things, be healed, and be encouraged by the landscape. And, during the after-school time after the seminar, one member told us that they used to talk to trees on their way home from school, and I was deeply moved.
Adults try to do various things for children thinking it is for their own good, and while that may be important, children find what they need for themselves, don't they? Can't they find it? Maybe adults don't have to try so hard; if there is something they can let go of, let it go...
What if we valued the "margin" that is born from there?
Even if I couldn't give them anything directly, if adults just had a little bit of consideration, I felt that children would be sufficiently cherished; it was a seminar that brought up such feelings. Having written this far, I remembered a passage from "The Universe of Children" by psychologist Hayao Kawai.
Children are in this universe.
Everyone knows this.
However, does everyone know that there is a universe within each child? It exists with infinite breadth and depth.
Adults are deceived by the smallness of children's figures,
and often forget the existence of that vast universe.
In their haste to make small children grow up quickly, adults distort the vast universe within children or destroy it to the point of being irreparable.
Such terrible things are often done in the name of what adults call "education," "guidance," or "goodwill," which gives an even more unbearable feeling.
These are words I read about 10 years ago and was impressed by, and had noted down in my notebook.
I think the CforC program truly pushed forward a cognitive shift to remind us of the "existence of the universe within children," to treat children with respect as individuals, and to be with them, rather than trying to do something to the children in front of us.
In this program, I was able to deepen my understanding of what kind of place (space) it is where "adults" and "children" are "together" nurturing the landscape of that place, not for someone else, through lectures, online workshops, or fieldwork. (Perhaps the expression "experienced" is closer. The CforC program itself was a program where "lecturers" and "participants," "management staff" and "participants," or "participants" and "participants" were "together" creating that place.)
"The local play space creation I was involved in was exactly one of those landscapes."
As the program progressed, I felt that way, and the things I had been doing and the conflicts I had had until now became very dear to me. Now, I strongly wish to make creating places (spaces) that value the relationship where "adults" and "children" are "together," not for someone else and not for something else, my life's work. Believing that it will ultimately lead to each other's well-being.
CforC2021Graduate Yo-chan
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We are currently accepting applications for Citizenship for Children 2023. At the information session for prospective participants, we will cover the overview and features of this program, and invite CforC graduates to speak about their individual backgrounds, what they learned, and the changes they experienced through participating in CforC. Everyone is welcome, so please feel free to join the information session first.
The CforC2023 information session will be held on 7/18. Recorded viewing is also available.
Applications for the Basic Course are open until 8/18.
PIECES also shares information on social media dedicated to CforC.
CforC Website / twitter
PIECES Website / Facebook / twitter
We share updates on the program and the activities of our graduates, so we would be happy if you could follow us.