Weighing Participation in Protection Context Marginalization, Exclusions, and Situated Agency of Children in Klaten, Central Java, Indonesia

Practitioners and scholars working for child protection have long been finding ways to create more effective policies, research, and interventions addressing childhood violence. Using social norms as an approach to prevent childhood violence has been considered promising, as it can create avenues for people-led interventions to challenge local norms within their local cultural and social con-text. Situated in a program site of ‘Roots’ in poor district of Klaten, Central Java, this research aims to unpack structural and social-cultural issues that may affect the outcomes of a student-led bullying prevention program. This qualitative re-search uses participatory action techniques in order to understand the structural, social-cultural issues situated within the school community, from the perspective of children, young people, as well as adult communities. Here, I identify forms of social exclusions in education, marginalization of young people through the socio-cultural construction of childhood in Javanese communities as factors that influence children’s restricted agency. This research calls for a more contextual-ized and comprehensive strategies addressing childhood violence. To improve child protection, social inclusion of children must be fostered by expanding chil-dren’s opportunity and capability rather than restricting them.