Emmy: The Isolation of Childhood and Growing Up. [talking about mixed I went to school because I was only, me children]‘when and my sister and then there was a couple of (77-78) others’ I remember as well I went through a whole summer where I had no ‘and, friends’ (179-180) any lasting memories, of being, friends with people in school ‘I haven’t got, and doing stuff with people in school. (279-280) [talking about being able to discuss racism in school with parents] think I ‘I did [pause] withdraw into myself, a lot, I think I probably that’s why didn’t have many friends in school because I did withdraw into myself because, I want to talk about it because, no one wants to talk about (395-397) didn’t it.’ Emmy presents a picture of isolation as a child; at school and through familial experiences. She interprets her isolation as a product of her mixedness and experiences associated with her mixedness, and through this highlights the complexity of exploring and managing racialised interpretations of belonging, particularly in children. Her experiences show the reciprocal relationship of isolation across two contexts. Emmy experiences isolation at school, which she is emotionally isolated from talking about at home. This leads to greater levels of isolation and withdrawal from school. Thus, experiences become Emmy’s cyclical in nature.
Emmy: The Isolation of Childhood and Growing Up. [talking about mixed children]‘when I went to school because I was only, me and my sister and then there was a couple of others’ (77-78) ‘and, I remember as well I went through a whole summer where I had no friends’ (179-180) ‘I haven’t got, any lasting memories, of being, friends with people in school and doing stuff with people in school. (279-280) [talking about being able to discuss racism in school with parents] ‘I think I did [pause] withdraw into myself, a lot, I think that’s why I probably didn’t have many friends in school because I did withdraw into myself because, I didn’t want to talk about it because, no one wants to talk about it.’ (395-397) Emmy presents a picture of isolation as a child; at school and through familial experiences. She interprets her isolation as a product of her mixedness and experiences associated with her mixedness, and through this highlights the complexity of exploring and managing racialised interpretations of belonging, particularly in children. Her experiences show the reciprocal relationship of isolation across two contexts. Emmy experiences isolation at school, which she is emotionally isolated from talking about at home. This leads to greater levels of isolation and withdrawal from school. Thus, Emmy’s experiences become cyclical in nature.