The Relationship Between School and Neighborhood: Child-Oriented Perspectives on Educational Locations

Abstract

Ten-year-old Rico has ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). The boy, who describes himself as "deeply gifted," lives alone with his mother at Dieffenbachstraße 93 in Berlin. She makes sure that Rico's world is carefully ordered. The routes that he takes to get to school or the shop are always the same. His mother even marks the street crossings for her son with plastic bottles (Steinhöfel, 2008, p. 32). The objects in the apartment all have their designated place (and are, if necessary, labelled with Post-it notes). Even the circle of trusted people in the neighborhood is clearly defined. If Rico loses his orientation and has to think hard, his thoughts begin to jump around in his head like bingo balls. He must therefore keep his thoughts organized all the time. Writing in his diary-in the film he speaks into a recording device-helps him sort out more complicated situations or problems. In the second children's adventure book by Andreas Steinhöfel, entitled "Rico, Oskar und das Herzgebreche" [Rico, Oskar and the heartbreak], Rico is riding on a motorcycle outside Berlin with his teacher Mr. Wehmeyer, who wanted to do something nice for him and show him something new. For Rico this situation, so far from his familiar neighborhood, is very unsettling, even frightening. But he does not dare say anything because Mr. Wehmeyer is a teacher and (quote): "You never know with teachers. Maybe they even give you marks for riding a motorcycle" (Steinhöfel, 2013, p. 12 1). 1 Steinhöfel's books exist only in German, so the quotations have been translated by an external translator.