The aim of this study is to explore how children experience their social community in the preschool and see how norms and views in the preschool environment could be related to a structural perspective on bullying. I have interviewed six children, five or six years old, about norms, relationships, inclusion, exclusion, friendship and violations in the preschool. There have been a total of six interviews with two to three children in each interview. During the first two interviews I read two children’s books and the discussed them with the children. The third interview included questions about relationships and violations based on the books and the children’s earlier answers.

I have analyzed the interviews to see how the children’s answers correspond to research about norms, relationships, inclusion, exclusion, friendship and violations in the preschool and bullying from a structural perspective. The research states that gender and age are the two main reasons for exclusion in the preschool, and that age can be a social resource which can be used to exercise power over younger children. The results show that the children answers correspond quite well with what the research tells us. They emphasize on the importance of being nice, and they react strongly towards violence and psychological violations. They show awareness of gender norms and equality, but this is not always the case when it comes to age differences. My conclusion from this study is that there is a gap between what the research states about age in the preschool and how age and age norms are actually being addressed in the preschool, on an organizational, group and individual level. The children’s views on age norms in the preschool could be a sign that violations between children of different age groups could be accepted within preschools, which could in turn be a starting point for bullying.