The Construction of Childhood and Adolescence in Modern Russia: the Case of a Children's Health Camp

The process of constructing childhood is influenced both by cultural and structural changes in society, and the formation of the culture of childhood. Models of the relationship between adults and children illustrate the concept of children and the culture of childhood, and form the institutional structure around childhood. The children's camp is one of the elements of this structure. The case of a children's camp is being considered precisely because there are no parents next to the child, and the rules are set by the administration or higher levels of power. (Lawlor 2003)  The research was focused on a specific task: to define the concepts of the structure of childhood and adolescence in modern Russia by reconstructing the notion of children and the culture of childhood as a whole through models of relationships with them through the prism of a children's health camp. In the course of the work, interviews with employees of the children's health camp were collected and analyzed, which directly interact with children and organize the space around them. And also the monitoring of the process of organization of children's rest in the camp was conducted and analyzed. The main result of the analysis is that children are positioned as individuals who do not have the competence to independently use certain things and perform certain actions, since childhood must be physically safe.