A Swiss Teen in England: How Making Friends Led to Bullying
What is it about?
This article is part of a larger study about Swiss teenagers studying abroad. It focuses on the story of Lily, a 16-year-old student who spent a year in England. Lily is very social and good at basketball, but her experience shows that making friends in a new country isn’t always easy. She faced bullying, which highlights the complex social issues that can happen during study abroad programs. The article questions the common belief that learning a language abroad is always fun and easy. Instead, it shows that teenagers can face real challenges, like being excluded or mistreated. It uses ideas like “communities of practice” and “othering” to explain why the local students treated Lily the way they did, and how she reacted. This helps us better understand what study abroad can really be like for teenagers.
Why is it important?
This work is important because it focuses on adolescents abroad, a population which is rarely studied. It focuses on the challenges they have to face, which are different from university students.