‘Friendship is like an extra parachute’: reflections on the way schoolchildren share their lived experiences of well‐being through drawings

Abstract

The aim of this study was to create a new understanding of health promotion activities in the classroom setting through children’s perspectives. Nineteen Swedish schoolchildren, ages 10‐ to 11‐years‐old, participated in health promotion work in the classroom. Through drawings and an exhibition discussion analysing their own and each other’s drawings, they shared their lived experience of well‐being and lack thereof. The phenomenological analysis resulted in three themes: (1) friends in good times and in bad; (2) the sunny side of life; (3) the bad and the mean. These themes were understood as friendship being like an extra parachute. Reflecting on the children’s lived experience of well‐being and our own role in the research process, the concept of openness surfaced. This we believe is an important ethical aspect of research with children.