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5 Case studies of children's diaries
These case studies represent the spread of daily activities undertaken by the children we saw. The following diaries have been constructed by the researchers using the children's own words as given in taped interviews, together with the diary entries which the children completed. We were impressed with the detail children brought to the diaries. Completing the diaries confirmed that children enjoy doing things that are child friendly and relate to their world. On the whole, children enjoyed filling in the diaries and this was illustrated by the amount of detail and application to the task. We have chosen five case studies which represent the range of daily lives evidenced in the diaries and show the varied regimes. Some children are very active while others do very little. All have in common time spent with peers and family. The diaries show the role of school as a place of productive and social activities. The type of setting in which children are placed is less important in influencing their daily lives than the individual circumstances and attitudes within their living places.
Case study 1: 48 hours in the life of a 13 year old girl in foster care - from Thursday 7 pm to Saturday 7 pm
At 7 pm on Thursday, I was in my house chatting to my friends on the internet. I was with my carers. At 7.30 pm I was doing my homework in the house at the kitchen table, alone for an hour. I then went to my bedroom and practiced my dance steps while listening to music. At 9 pm I was in the shower. I spent 1 hour drying and straightening my hair in my bedroom on my own. Before bed I spent half an hour reading. I went to bed at 11 pm.
I got up at 7 am and straightened my hair for half an hour. I then went down to the kitchen and ate breakfast with my carers. At 8 am I got the bus to school with friends. I had classes from 8.30 am to 3.30 pm. I spent my morning break and lunch time in the playground with friends.
I got the bus home and walked the rest of the way alone. I had some dinner in the kitchen with my carers. I then went to my bedroom, straightened my hair and got dressed to go out. At 5.30 pm I walked to the town green with friends. We spent an hour on the rides and an hour watching fireworks as it was bonfire night. On the way home we got fish and chips.
Back at home I watched half an hour of TV in the living room with my carer. I then practised my dance steps alone in my room for half an hour. Before I went to bed I went on the internet for half an hour in the living room with my carers. I went to bed at 11 pm.
I woke up at 10 am and went dancing for 3.5 hours. I walked home and had lunch on my own in the kitchen. I then met up with my friends in town and we went shopping. At 4.30 pm we went to McDonalds. I then got the bus home. Back at home I surfed the internet until 7 pm.
Case study 2: 48 hours in the life of a 15 year old girl in foster care - from Thursday 7 pm to Saturday 7 pm
At 7 pm I was having a fag out the back. From 7.30 pm to 11.30 pm I was watching television in the lounge at home. I had another fag break at 9 pm. I then got ready for bed and fell asleep by 12.30 am. I slept through to 8 am when I got up and got ready for school. It took me half an hour to walk to school. I was in school from 8.30 am until 3.30 pm. I had a morning break at 10.30, which I spent with friends and I spent my hour lunch break with friends at a Chinese restaurant.
Once I got in from school I got some dinner and spent 3 hours watching TV in my bedroom. At 7 pm I wrapped some Christmas presents, called my mum to arrange seeing her next week and settled down to watch some more TV till midnight. I got washed, took my make-up off and went to bed.
I got up at 2 pm on Saturday went outside for a fag and watched TV for the rest of the day.
Case study 3: 48 hours in the life of a 13 year old girl in shared care - from Thursday 7 pm to Saturday 7 pm
I spent 5 minutes playing my trumpet alone in the sitting room. I then painted my flowerpot until 7.30 pm in the kitchen with other young people in the house. After that I drew on the blackboard for 10 minutes with other children.
I watched television until 8.30 pm in the sitting room with my carer. At 8.30 I spent half an hour in the shower. I then went to my bedroom, alone, read my book for half an hour and listened to a story tape for a further half an hour and fell asleep.
I slept for 9 hours but woke up once in the night for a short while. At 7 am I woke up but fell asleep and had to be woken up again at 7.30 am by my carer. I had breakfast in the kitchen with my carer and other children.
I took the bus to school with other kids, which took half an hour. From 9 am to 3.30 pm I had classes with other children. From 11 am to 11.30 I ate a sandwich on my break in the dining hall with friends. Lunch was at 12.30. I ate in the dining hall with friends and then played in the orchestra for half an hour.
After school, I went to Mum's on the bus. It took half an hour and I had to stand up all the way. From 4 pm to 9 pm I watched DVDs with Mum. We also watched half an hour of TV before I got ready for bed. I had a shower in the bathroom and was asleep by 10 pm in my bedroom at Mum's house.
I woke up at 11.30 pm for half an hour and then slept right through until 7 am when I woke up and read a book for an hour.
I watched TV until 10 am and then went to the shops. At 11 am I visited my gran's grave with my mum. From 11.30 I played the trumpet and sang from 12 to 12.30 in my bedroom alone. I spent half an hour on the internet in the living room, watched TV for an hour and played Playstation for an hour. At 3 pm my carers picked me up and we went swimming for an hour and a half. I then got the bus to town, bought a pair of shoes with my carer and went to the cinema.
Case study 4: 48 hours in the life of a 15 year old girl in foster care - from Thursday 7 pm to Saturday 7 pm
I was at the pictures for most of the evening with my foster siblings. We arrived back at the house by 11 pm and watched the television for half an hour. I got ready for bed with my foster sister as we share a room. I slept until 7 am. I spent 1 hour getting ready in my room by myself. I had breakfast by myself in the dining room.
I spent 4 hours in classes on Friday morning. Lunch lasted half an hour and I spent it with my friends. I had classes for 2 hours in the afternoon. My foster carers picked me up from school in the car and it took 15 minutes to get home. I did my homework in my room for an hour and a half. My foster sister was also in the room.
All the family had dinner in the dining room and then we all watched TV in the living room for 4 hours. I also chatted to my friends on the computer in the hall by myself for an hour and a half. I had a bath, and read till I fell asleep. I slept for 9 hours, watched an hour of TV in my bedroom with my foster sister in the morning. All the family had breakfast in the kitchen from 10 am to 11 am. I watched TV with my carer for half an hour, chatted to my friends on the PC for half an hour, did my homework in my room alone for 3 hours. My carer took me out shopping for the rest of the day.
Case study 5: 48 hours in the life of an 11 year old boy in a residential unit - from Thursday 7 pm to Saturday 7 pm
I was playing table tennis until 8.30 pm in the activities hall with other young people and staff. We all then went to the unit and had supper and watched TV for half an hour. At 9 pm I went up to my room to get settled and watched TV on my own. I fell asleep at 10 pm.
Staff woke me up at 7.30 am, shouted at me and I stayed in bed for a while. I had a shower at 8.30 am. I went to the kitchen and had breakfast with other young people in the unit and we all went to registration. I had classes until 3 pm. I got a 20 minute morning break and an hour lunch break. I spent both breaks back at the unit with other young people and grabbed a snack. After classes I watched TV in the unit with staff for half an hour, got ready to go to town and travelled in the car for half an hour with staff and other young people from the unit. We spent 2 hours shopping in town. When we got back to the unit we had tea and watched TV for half an hour. I returned to the activities hall and played table tennis for an hour. I went up to my room had supper and watched TV. I went to sleep at 10 pm.
I slept for 12 hours, got up, had a shower and watched TV for an hour and a half till lunch. After having lunch with other young people in the unit we played table tennis for an hour and a half, watched TV for 3 hours, had tea and got ready to go ice skating.
Case study 6: 48 hours in the life of a 9 year old boy on home supervision - from Thursday 7 pm to Saturday 7 pm
I spent from 7 pm to 8.30 pm watching soaps on the TV in the lounge with my mum. I then played with toys for half an hour and watched a movie for half an hour with mum in the lounge. I was in bed by 9.30 pm.
I got up at 7.50 am, washed and brushed my teeth, got dressed, put on deodorant and fixed my hair. I had a quick breakfast in the lounge with Mum and got the school bus with my pals at 8.15 am. I arrived at school by 8.50 am. At school I go into school, put my bag down and then go back out again to see my pals before class starts.
I was in classes from 9 am to 3 pm. I had a 20 minute break at 10.40 am and I went outside running and racing with my pals. Lunch was at 12.35 pm, for an hour, where I had something to eat in the dining hall and then went outside with pals. After school mum picked me up and we got the bus home.
I spent half an hour with Mum doing my homework. I then watched TV till my pal came over. My pal arrived at 5 pm and I went across the road to his house to stay the night. At 5.30 pm my pal's mum took us both to the fair. We spent all evening on the rides. We got back to my pal's house at 10.30 pm and got a take away. I phoned my mum at 11.30 pm and then my pal and I played Playstation. We fell asleep at 12.30 am.
We got up at 10.30 am and had breakfast with my pal's mum. The two of us then went out to play until 2.30 pm. I went home, got changed ready to go to the fair again. I watched TV with my mum in the lounge from 3 pm to 5.30 pm and Mum and I had tea.
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