Daycare Children's Establishment of Territory to Experience Privacy

Sarah K. Zeegers
Big Bend Community Coordinated Child Care
Tallahassee, Florida

Christine A. Readdick
Family and Child Sciences, Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida

Sally Hansen-Gandy
Home Economics Education, Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida

Home Economics Education, Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida

Citation: Zeegers, Sarah K., Christine A. Readdick and Sally Hansen-Gandy (1994). "Daycare Children's Establishment of Territory to Experience Privacy." Children's Environments 11 (4): 1-10. Retrieved [date] from http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/

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Abstract

One hundred randomly selected three-, four-, and five-year-old children from ten randomly selected daycare centers were interviewed to determine the extent to which they established territory as a means of achieving privacy in their group childcare settings. Fifty-eight of the 100 children indicated they had a special place in their center that they perceived as belonging only to them. Fifty-five of the 58 children were able to show their special places, such as a cubby or chair at lunch or hideaway underneath a playhouse, and to tell what they did in these places. Forty-four children said they had no special place at their center. Nineteen of these children declared that their special place was at home. Ramifications of findings are discussed within the framework of Altman's (1975) theoretical framework of privacy. Recommendations for future research are offered.

Keywords: privacy, territoriality, daycare, childcare, children, early childhood