“I’m Often Alone”: An Ethnographic Study of School Loneliness and Bullying in a Swedish Elementary School

Despite extensive work to prevent and reduce bullying interactions, bullying is still a prevalent problem in many schools. Children and youth also report that they feel involuntarily left out in school. While research has demonstrated the ways in which school bullying is connected to risk factors across different ecological layers or contexts, relatively little consideration has been given to aspects beyond the individuals directly involved in bullying situations, such as the exo, and macrosystem layers. The aim of this study was to examine three pupils’ experiences of school loneliness and bullying. The following questions guided the study: (1) What are the pupils’ experiences of school loneliness and bullying? (2) How can the pupils’ experiences of school loneliness and bullying be understood beyond the individuals directly involved in the bullying situations? The research is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted at one Swedish elementary school including 34 pupils and 7 teachers in two sixth-grade classes (i.e., ages 11–12). The findings presented in this article are based on a group interview with three pupils about their experiences of school loneliness and bullying. The interview responses are put into perspective using findings from the ethnographic fieldwork. The findings were analysed using methods from constructivist grounded theory and through the lens of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of human development as well as critical bullying studies. The findings of this study demonstrate the ways bullying interactions are tied to the different layers, or “settings”, of the bullying ecology as the pupils draw from a range of differential points of reference so as to socially evaluate themselves, their classmates, and their peers. An important conclusion of the study is for principals, teachers, and other school personnel to consider more thoroughly the interdependent interplay of the bullying ecology.


Introduction
Despite extensive work to prevent and reduce bullying interactions, bullying is still a prevalent problem in many schools (e.g., Bjereld et al., 2020;Rawlings & Stoddard, 2019). In addition to the experience of bullying interactions, children and youth report that they often feel involuntarily alone and left out during the school day (for an overview of the Swedish context, see e.g., Friends, 2021). In order to counteract bullying and school loneliness, schools have taken various measures, such as increased adult supervision at the school yard, school and classroom policies (Cross & Barnes, 2014;Nickerson, 2017) as well as improving school ground environments, such as creating opportunities for pupils during lunch and breaktimes in order so to reduce boredom and the likelihood for bullying (Sharp et al., 1994;Smith, 2019). Nevertheless, despite extensive initiatives to reduce bullying research suggests that the prevalence of school bullying is increasing in Sweden (Bjereld et al., 2020). The numbers of pupils reporting that they often feel alone and left out in school has also increased (Friends, 2021).
Although contested (Carrera et al., 2011;Horton, 2021;Volk et al., 2014), school bullying has commonly been distinguished from other types of behaviours by three prominent components, namely that bullying (1) involves an intention to harm, (2) is repetitive in nature, and (3) is characterised by a clear power imbalance between perpetrator and victim (Gaffney et al., 2019;Hymel & Swearer, 2015;Smith, 2014). In turn, loneliness can be understood as "the unpleasant feeling that takes place when one's network of social relationships is deficient in some important way, either quantitatively or qualitatively" (Perlman & Peplau, 1981, p. 31). The actions encompassing bullying are commonly understood to take either "direct" or "indirect"/"relational" forms. Whereas "direct" bullying refers to physical aggression, threats, name-calling, hitting, kicking, punching, or taking or damaging someone's belongings, "indirect" or "relational" bullying refers to more hidden, "behind-the-back" acts such as rumour spreading, social exclusion practices, or harming someone's social status and/or social relationships (Olweus, 1997;Rosen et al., 2017). Although it has been emphasised that there is no reason to believe that various forms of bullying are more common among either girls or boys (Björkqvist, 1994), others have argued that indirect and relational forms of bullying are more common among girls than boys (e.g., Berger & Caravita, 2016;Olweus, 2003). Still others have highlighted that boys also use and experience indirect and relational forms of bullying (e.g., Archer & Coyne, 2005;Eriksen & Lyng, 2016) and that girls also experience direct forms of bullying (e.g., Juvonen et al., 2013). Teachers and pupils often have different perceptions of what counts as bullying (e.g., Bauman & Del Rio, 2006), and such differing perceptions may affect pupils' willingness to report their experiences of bullying (Bjereld et al., 2019). Teachers may also be unaware of the prevalence of bullying and/or the extent to which pupils experience bullying (Espelage & De La Rue, 2011) or school loneliness (Lago & Elvstrand, 2019) which, in turn, has implications for teachers' ability to sufficiently intervene and address these experiences (Espelage & De La Rue, 2011).
In discussing factors relevant to the occurrence and maintenance of bullying, school bullying researchers have tended to focus primarily on the individuals directly involved in bullying situations (Carrera et al., 2011;Horton, 2016;Thornberg, 2015). Such focus has entailed that relatively little consideration has been given to the contexts beyond individuals, such as as the exo, and macrosystem layers (Barboza et al., 2009). However, more and more school bullying researchers have come to pay attention to the ways in which school bullying interactions at the microsystem layer (i.e., the individuals directly 1 3 involved in bullying situations) are connected to aspects at the exo, and macrosystem layers (e.g., Barboza et al., 2009;Espelage & De La Rue, 2011;Hong & Espelage, 2012), such as the school environment (e.g., Horton et al., 2020;Rajaleid et al., 2020;Roland & Galloway, 2010), including the design of playgrounds (e.g., Horton et al., 2020), and/or culturally influenced norms and beliefs (e.g., Thornberg, 2015;Walton, 2015). It has been underlined how teachers and other school personnel influence the social interactions at a given school, such as the social relationships between pupils and between pupils and school personnel (Rajaleid et al., 2020;Roland & Galloway, 2010). As has been demonstrated elsewhere, the decisions taken in relation to the design of playgrounds, the allocation of resources, and the prioritisation of some activities over others entails different opportunities for pupils to gain and establish status and prestige Swain, 2002Swain, , 2006. For example, depending on the school or class context, pupils might be socially devalued for not playing football, not wearing makeup, or not wearing the "right" clothes or shoes, all of which may be socially evaluated by other pupils as signs of low social status and "misfitting" (Thornberg, 2018). The occurrence of bullying is then not primarily understood as underpinned by the relations of the individuals involved, but as the result of "the complex interplay between individual and contextual factors" at the different layers of the bullying ecology (Thornberg, 2018, p. 154).
In discussing aspects beyond the individuals directly involved in bullying situations, a number of researchers have also pointed to the relations between school bullying and the structural (e.g., Horton et al., 2020) and institutional (e.g., Horton, 2018) constraints of the school setting. As Horton et al. (2020) for example put it, "the physical space of the school is not merely a setting for social interactions, but is also implicated in shaping those interactions" (p. 51). A crowded school yard may, for example, imply that it is difficult for teachers and school staff to detect a pupil who has been rejected by their peers (Lago & Elvstrand, 2019). Additionally, it has been suggested that the competitive and compulsory constraints of the school setting may underpin bullying interactions (e.g., Horton, 2018). For example, it has been suggested that pupils-in relation to such constraints-may find it necessary to exclude their peers in order to not be excluded themselves (Strindberg & Horton, 2022), and/or as a means of assuage their fear of being "singled out" from the peer group (Søndergaard, 2012;Strindberg et al., 2020). It has also been underlined that pupils may find it necessary to position themselves on the football pitch so as to be perceived as an "appropriate" boy or girl (e.g., Martino, 1999;Swain, 2002). These are all aspects of bullying interactions which extends beyond the individuals directly involved and can be referred to as the exosystem layer (Barboza et al., 2009;Espelage & De La Rue, 2011;Hong & Espelage, 2012).
In arguing the importance of culturally influenced norms and beliefs to school bullying-which may be referred to as macrosystem layer-a number of researchers have pointed to the ways by which pupils draw on a number of normative distinctions, or social "viewpoints" (Lyng, 2009, p. 474), including "race, gender expression, real or perceived sexuality, class, physical ability, mental ability, physical attractiveness, body size and shape, social competence, and so on" (Walton, 2015, p. 21), not least in their decisions of "who belongs and why" (Forsberg & Thornberg, 2016, p. 20). It has been found that pupils who lack of engagement in sports, and particularly football (Swain, 2000), can be perceived as "misfitting" (Thornberg, 2018), "unworthy" (Søndergaard, 2012), members of the peer community. As Thornberg (2018) has argued, the process of "misfitting" in bullying involves the collective and selective use of normativities which, in turn, "emphasize the importance of analysing the school and peer context, social interaction patterns, culture norms, power, discourses, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and so forth" (Thornberg, 2018, p. 144).
Although previous research has contributed greatly to the in-depth knowledge of bullying and demonstrated the ways in which school bullying is connected to risk factors across different ecological layers or contexts, there is still a need for "more ethnographic studies investigating bullying as an interactive social process" (Horton, 2011, p. 274). Likewise, as has been underlined elsewhere, there is a need for a theoretical widening in order to fully grasp the "ambiguity and complexity " of school bullying (Thornberg, 2018, p. 144) such as the ways school bullying is, "embedded within layers of social forces that create the culture that generates the opportunity for bullying to occur" (p. 30). In this study, the aim is to examine three pupils' experiences of school loneliness and bullying. The study is based on ethnographic fieldwork (Hammersley, 2006;Murphy & Dingwall, 2007) conducted at a Swedish elementary school. The study draws inspiration from ecological approaches to social interaction (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), as well as a critical ecological approach that considers school loneliness and bullying as more complex than just the individual pupils involved in such interactions (Hamarus & Kaikkonen, 2008;Juva, 2020;Kousholt & Fisker, 2015). The following questions have guided the study: (1) What are the pupils' experiences of school loneliness and bullying? (2) How can the pupils' experiences of school loneliness and bullying be understood beyond the individuals directly involved in the bullying situations?

A Critical Ecological Approach to School Loneliness and Bullying
A critical ecological approach to pupils' school experiences emphasise the importance of social processes and social interactions, such as school loneliness and bullying, being understood in relation to the socio-structural context in which they take place (see Migliaccio & Raskauskas, 2015). The socio-structural context (such as a school and its traditions and norms) is important for pupils' school experiences. As Swain (2002) puts it: […] Pupils live their lives at school within the particular historical, economic, political and cultural contexts of their society: these structures and pressures influence schools' policies and organisations, which, in turn, means that there are different possibilities/opportunities in different settings for pupils to gain status: while some are open, others are more limited or even closed. (p. 105) Swain (2002) acknowledges the importance of the school context to pupils' school experiences. In this study, I consider not only the school context, but also the importance of broader societal gender and identity norms to bullying. I draw inspiration from Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological theory of human development and understand bullying as a phenomenon influenced by different layers, systems, or settings, all mutually intertwined in an ecology (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). This ecology can be thought of as a set of Russian nesting dolls, wherein every system, or layer of the doll, influences the emergence and continuation of bullying interactions (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 3;Horton, 2016).
The inner-most layer of the doll is the microsystem. A microsystem refers to the activities and interpersonal relations experienced by the person in each setting (such as a home, a school, or a playground). A microsystem may also be thought of in terms of the people that pupils meet every day and with whom they interact on a face-to-face basis (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 8). The next layer, the mesosystem is a layer of several microsystems and comprises "the interrelations among two or more settings" in which the person actively participates (such as the relations between the home and school settings). The next layer, the exosystem, involves one or more settings where the person does not actively participate, but which interrelate with the person's microsystem (such as the local school board) (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 8). The outermost layer is the macrosystem, which refers to "the level of the subculture or the culture as a whole" (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 26). The macrosystem is important to bullying, not least because societal norms related to gender and identity, for example, provide "consistent patterns of differentiation" that influence understandings of "sameness" and "difference" in the other layers (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 26).
Taken together, the social-ecological model provides a useful framework to examine and explore school bullying as a social phenomenon which, "is established and perpetuated over time as the result of the complex interplay between individual and contextual factors" (Thornberg, 2018, p. 145). In this study, I utilised a critical ecological approach to analyse three pupils' experiences of school loneliness and bullying.

Setting
This study is part of a research project focusing on pupils' reflections on school bullying. The experiences discussed in this article are based on a group interview with three pupils about their experiences of school loneliness and bullying at one Swedish elementary school that I refer to as "Birchwood School". Birchwood School is a rural elementary school with about 350 pupils in a smaller Swedish municipality.

Design
In the study, I draw on a critical ecological approach to pupils' school experiences which underlines school loneliness and bullying as more complex than just the individual pupils involved in such interactions (Hamarus & Kaikkonen, 2008;Juva, 2020;Kousholt & Fisker, 2015) as well as the importance of understanding social interaction, such as school loneliness and bullying, in relation to the socio-structural context in which they take place (Migliaccio & Raskauskas, 2015). The experiences discussed are put into perspective using ethnographic fieldwork. Ethnographic fieldwork is a method well suited for investigating social processes and social interactions (Hammersley, 2006;Murphy & Dingwall, 2007) such as exclusionary practices and bullying (Thornberg, 2011). Ethnography is a method with a focus on understanding social contexts (such as schools) and the way in which norms and social expectations may be related to social interactions such as bullying (Delamont, 2016). It is also a way of methodologically explore the "situated rationality of action" (Murphy & Dingwall, 2014, p. 2224, such inclusion and exclusion practices in the school setting.

Participants
A total of 34 pupils and 7 teachers in two sixth-grade classes (i.e., ages 11-12) participated in the study. A particular focus is put on a group interview with three pupils about their experiences of school loneliness and bullying.

Data Collection
The findings discussed in this study draw on 97 pages of fieldnotes, seven semi-structured group interviews and two pair interviews with pupils. The fieldnotes encompass participant observations and informal interviews with pupils and teachers. Because some pupils were ill or absent at the time of interviewing, 28 of 34 pupils were interviewed. The interviews lasted between 60 and 75 min and were focused on the pupils' perspectives on their school experiences, on social status and popularity, and on why some pupils may be more or less left out in school.

Procedure
Two to four days a week, for a total of 29 days, were spent at Birchwood School (16 days with the class here referred to as 6C, and 13 days with the class referred to as 6D). The implementation of the fieldwork was in line with a "compressed time mode", that is, a short period of intense ethnographic research in which I sought to "live the life of the inhabitants as far as is possible without prejudicing the research, antagonising the inhabitants or disturbing the research site itself" (Jeffrey & Troman, 2004, p. 538).
In conducting the fieldwork, I sought to immerse myself in the daily life and routines of the pupils (Coffey, 2018;Walford & Delamont, 2008) so as to gain a more in-depth understanding of the pupils' perspectives, activities, and actions (Hammersley, 2006). With a pen and a small notebook, I took field notes of pupils' "day-to-day affairs" (Emerson et al., 2011). I spent my time in the places where pupils chose to stay and participated in pupils' break activities when I was invited to do so. Like other school ethnographers (e.g., Thornberg, 2018), I sought to take a "least-adult" role (Mandell, 2003) in meeting with the pupils. This entailed that I introduced myself and explained that I was working on a book about school bullying and pupils' everyday school life. Like other school ethnographers (e.g., Thornberg, 2018), I talked to pupils, sought to establish relations, and tried to become a familiar figure.
The premise for conducting either semi-structured group interviews or pair interviews was my field observations. Prior to conducting any interviews, I conferred with the teachers about the suggested groupings. Because the study focused on pupils' experiences of school loneliness and bullying, I chose to limit the interviews to the pupils. In conducting the interviews, I sought to avoid positioning myself as an expert or a teacher. I also sought to hand over some of the agenda to the pupils, and to signal my interest in the participating pupils' particular experiences and reflections, for example by asking them to elaborate further on what they said and following up on what they suggested and discussed.
Prior to collecting any data, the study was approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority. Ethical guidelines were followed, and informed consent was obtained from the principal, teachers, and the participating pupils and their guardians.

Data Analysis
The data has been analysed with the help of constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014) with particular focus on how pupils' experiences of school loneliness and bullying be understood beyond the individuals directly involved in the bullying situations. All interviews have been transcribed verbatim, and all the handwritten field notes have been typed up in a Word document. In line with grounded theory, the analysis of data and the data collection have gone hand in hand throughout the research process (Charmaz, 2014; Thornberg & Charmaz, 2014). Hence, the analytical procedure has been the backand-forth movement between data collection, analysis, continued data collection, and analysis. The procedure has been very much in line with (1) collecting data, (2) working with emerging concept and themes in the data, (3) reviewing and comparing data with data, (4) collecting additional data, (5) refining and elaborating themes, concepts, and ideas. In line with qualitative, inductive manner (e.g., Taylor & Bogdan, 1998), I read and re-read the data, I preliminarily coded different words and segments of data, named and sorted the data with different labels in terms of their perceived fit and relevance. In taking seriously an informed grounded theory approach (Thornberg, 2012), I treated theories and concepts as modifiable, heuristic tools, rather than "truths" in terms of their fit and relevance. In working with the data, I conducted close readings of all the data. I have looked for emerging themes while also following up and further exploring data that has seemed to be of particular importance.
Inspired by the "funnel metaphor" as discussed by Agar (2006, p. 13), I decided to I enter the fieldwork with broad questions, such as "What is Birchwood School like"?, "What does it mean to be a pupil at Birchwood School?", "What does it mean to be a pupil in 6C and 6D at Birchwood School?", "What does the pupils' social relationships look like?" and "What seems to be important to the pupils in 6C and 6D at Birchwood School?". I used fieldnotes to zoom in the contextual aspects, such as the perceived relationship between football and social status at Birchwood School, while also reflexively reminding myself of the various situations and events that I experienced while conducting fieldwork at Birchwood School. By the means of theoretical sampling (i.e., "seeking and collecting pertinent data to elaborate and refine categories in your emerging theory") (Charmaz, 2014, p. 192) and theoretical coding (i.e., the"underlying logics on how to relate, organize and integrate concepts that could be found in various theories across different disciplines") (Thornberg, 2017, p. 364), the intertwining of the different layers of a bullying ecology gradually began to emerge in the data. For example, in conversations with me, the pupils explained that "We're sort of a football class", "Typically everyone plays football at our school, except for a few" and "Those who don't play football are a bit left out really". This was very much in line with what I had also observed. As it emerged to me in the latter part of the fieldwork, football seemed as the simultaneously inclusionary and exclusionary practice with great significance for pupils' school experiences. Thus, while I already knew about the relationship between football and social status at the macrosystem level (e.g., Swain, 2000), the data seemed to suggest a close tie between "Liam's", "Isabella's", and "Ava's" experiences of loneliness and bullying at the micro system level (at the school yard), the importance of the school context (at the exosystem level), and the perceived relationship of football and social status at the macrosystem level. In the latter part of the fieldwork, I thus decided to focus the data collection and the ongoing analysis on the experiences of "Liam", "Isabella", and "Ava" and the ways their experiences could be understood beyond the individuals directly involved.

Validation
In order so to establish credibility of this study, I have sought to keep an open mind to what the data seemed to suggest rather than uncritically adopting pre-existing theories and concepts into the analysis (Thornberg, 2012). I have chosen to discuss the tentative findings and the ongoing interpretations of the data with my fellow colleagues, all experienced school bullying researchers and well trained in qualitative methods. The tentative findings and the interpretations of data have also discussed at a methodological workshop at the university where I currently work as a senior lecturer in pedagogy. Additionally, I utilised the possibility of combining the field observations with in-depth interviews. The combination of data collecting methods has allowed for asking the pupils and teachers about situations and interactions that I had observed and wanted to know more about, while also providing for comparison between observations and what the pupils and the teachers told me (for example in relation to Liam's, Isabella's and Ava's school experiences).
The use of memo writing (i.e., the jotting of informal analytic notes so as to capture ideas about the data and the ongoing data collection), theoretical sampling (i.e., the movement between data collection and analysis in order so to really explore what was going on in the data), and the triangulation of sources (i.e., the ongoing comparison of extensive participant observations, fieldnotes, memo writing, and interviews with pupils and teachers) have been utilised as a means to further provide for the credibility of this study (for a review on the possibilities of methodological triangulation, see Bekhet & Zauszniewski, 2012). Thus, while taking seriously the credibility of the informants, the combination of different data collection methods has entailed that the findings discussed are not solely grounded in a single source of data (such as the interview data with "Liam", "Isabella", and "Ava"), but in a combination of multiple data collection methods over a longer period.
It is important to note that structural aspects, such as age and gender (I am a 36-year-old male), influence what the participants in a study are willing/unwilling to share, as well as how they may act in relation to the researcher (e.g., Taylor & Bogdan, 1998;Walford & Delamont, 2008). Also here, the collection and comparison of data over a longer period (i.e., the comparison of the data collected at the beginning of the fieldwork with the data collected at the latter stage of the fieldwork) has been a way to take seriously that field relationships matter for the data collection, analysis, and conclusions of a study.
Additionally, the collection and comparison of data over a longer period and from different voices and perspectives has allowed for "member checks" (Taylor & Bogdan, 1998, p. 159) whereby I have been able to consult the pupils and the teachers about possible questions, thoughts and interpretations that have arisen throughout the fieldwork. To collect and to compare data over a longer period of time, as well as from different voices and perspectives (i.e., pupils and teachers), has also been used a means to critically reflect on what could otherwise risk being an overly "selective view", grounded solely on "Liam's", "Isabella's", and "Ava's" statements about their experiences (Taylor & Bogdan, 1998, p. 159).

Findings
In presenting the findings, I draw on a number of examples from the analysis of the participant observations and interviews so as to illuminate key themes. The findings are organised in line with Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological theory. I first highlight Liam's, Isabella's, and Ava's experiences of school loneliness and bullying at the microsystem level. I then discuss the ways their experiences at the microsystem level were intertwined with interactions, traditions, and norms at the meso, exo, and macrosystem levels.

Experiences of School Loneliness and Bullying at the Microsystem Level
It is morning break on a winter day at Birchwood School. Shortly, everyone will enter their classrooms again after having spent half an hour outside in the cool winter air. Like most of the children at this particular school, the pupils in the two sixth grade classes that I have been visiting for the last three months spend their breaks playing football. However, Liam and Isabella rarely play football but rather spend most of the breaks on their own in another part of the schoolyard, maybe at the swings or at the slide. Sometimes Ava is with them too. On the way back to the classroom again, Liam approaches me and says 'Hi'. 'Hi Liam!', I reply. Aware that he rarely participates in football, I ask what he likes to do during the breaks. 'I'm often alone', he replies briefly and looks at me. What I was told by Liam during our short meeting in the schoolyard reflected feelings of boredom, aimlessness, and social isolation, which have been related to experiences of being socially excluded and bullied (Berguno et al., 2004;Klomek et al., 2015;Qualter et al., 2010;Zych et al., 2017). A week after Liam told me about his experiences of often being left out at school, I sat with Liam, Isabella, and Ava in a small room that served as a temporary library in the same building as the fifth-grade classrooms. The three of them sat in a row in front of me, with some benches serving as tables between us. After a couple of general questions about their school and school class, I asked them if they would like to tell me what it was like at their school and in their class.
As Liam explained to me, he had repeatedly felt left out in his class, sometimes even bullied. Sometimes he did not want to go to school at all. Liam also explained that he was considered "the wimp" by the boys in his class and he was called "wimp" by classmates because he did not like to play football. He was also called a "nerd" because he liked school and sometimes a "sissy" because he wore sweatpants. He also told me his classmates sometimes threw pencils at him during lessons and threw his bag into the girls' toilet after physical education lessons. In turn, Isabella explained that she was sometimes teased by classmates and called a "nerd" because she wore glasses, and she also told me that she and Ava were perceived as low-status girls in the class because they, unlike the popular girls in class, did not wear trendy clothes or nice shoes, and because they did not wear make-up. In the classroom, I observed that Ava sometimes got comments from her classmates about things she either did or did not do, such as having too loud music in her headphones. Ava was described by teachers and classmates as someone who was often alone in school, but who chose to be alone and to withdraw from her classmates. While Ava told me that she did often choose to withdraw, she also explained that she sometimes did not want to be alone, that she sometimes felt left out, and that she then did not dare to ask classmates whether she could join in.
As Liam, Isabella, and Ava explained, their school experiences revolved around aspects of being left out. One example that they related to this experience was that they were rarely asked by classmates or other pupils whether they wanted to join their break activities. As Isabella and Liam elaborated: Isabella: Yeah, sometimes usually like … it isn't often, it's maybe like, once … a month, maybe … that someone comes and asks if I want to join in … it's not very often someone comes and says that, and then I of course say yes. Liam: I feel almost the same, except for me it's about once every sixth months.
Both Isabella and Liam expressed disappointment about rarely being asked to participate. Isabella also pointed to the imbalance of the situation, with her happily saying yes if asked, but rarely being asked. As Isabella explained, she had also sometimes first found herself being invited to participate, only to then be denied participation and left out: For example, if some in the class, for example [names of pupils], well … this game that we usually play at the slide … I asked once if I could join in and then they said 'yes', but then after one or two minutes they said, 'but we don't want to play anymore' and then they just went off and I was left all alone then … I felt pretty empty inside, like 'okay …' Isabella pointed to a sort of double marginalisation, where she first had to ask permission to participate, only to then be left out again once accepted. As Isabella explained, the limited opportunities to participate and her experiences of social marginalisation and loneliness had negatively affected her sense of self: During the breaks as well, I feel like I'm also, like … that I don't exist so often, because when, for example, Liam and Ava are sick, then I'm usually alone and people, it feels like they [the other pupils in her class] could just … walk through me, because … when they walk, for example, past me, and see me, they usually just bump into me sometimes … yeah, and say like 'Oh, sorry! I didn't see you', even though they did see me … so that can be a bit hard … as well … In talking about her school situation, Isabella underlined the hurtful experience of being left out and feeling as if she did not exist. She explained that she often experienced that her classmates could walk through her, as if she did not exist, and emphasised her uneasiness at experiencing the breaks in this way. As she explained, she often found herself alone and socially overlooked when Liam and Ava were absent from school. She also underlined how she often experienced both "direct" and "indirect" forms of bullying on those occasions when she did not have her friends present. As Liam, Isabella, and Ava explained, they experienced themselves as "thrown away" from the rest of the class. In a sense, Liam, Isabella, and Ava were in a catch 22. Thus, while I observed that they were not completely isolated or alone, as they had each other, they were nonetheless in a sense marginalised and cut off from the rest of the class. In contrast to their classmates, they did not play any sports and did not play football. Nor did they engage in the social games of boys and girls that afforded status, and this meant that they were afforded a low status and a marginalised position in the class. As I observed, their marginalised position not only restricted their opportunity to engage with their classmates, but also entailed that they were somewhat excluded from the possibility of being afforded social status.

School Loneliness, Bullying, and Relations Between the Micro, Meso, Exo, and Macrosystem Levels
During my stay at Birchwood, I became aware of how the school had formal policies and plans for working against harassment, abusive treatment, and bullying. In my conversations with pupils, they told me that teachers teach them the importance of being kind, not teasing, not excluding others, and being inclusive towards one another. There were school and classroom rules visible at different locations at the school, emphasising the importance of caring, respecting, and taking responsibility for the treatment of one another. As the teachers explained to me, they had worked especially with group-strengthening collaborative exercises with classes 6C and 6D, and the teachers had annual meetings with the school's safety team regarding, for example, school norms and values and how to behave towards each other at school and in class. Situations and incidents of bullying or harassment were followed up with individual meetings with pupils and their parents. Additionally, I observed that there were always a number of teachers and school personnel outside during breaks, circulating and keeping a little extra watch on some of the perceived unsafe spaces of the schoolyard and the myriad of pupils who often spent their breaks at the same time.
During my stay at Birchwood School, it occurred to me that being a pupil at the school entailed strong expectations of playing football, especially if you were a boy in class 6D. The strong expectations of playing football were also highlighted by Liam, Isabella, and Ava in their reflections on being a school pupil at Birchwood School. As Liam explained when reflecting on the social structure of pupils at Birchwood School: There is one huge group at the school, which is 'the footballers' … well, basically everyone at the whole school, except the three of us then, and a few more.
Liam's reflection points to the importance of football, but also in a sense to how playing football may be related to the relative social status and position of pupils, such as him, Isabella, and Ava as socially marginalised and left out. The importance of football was also something that I observed. The football pitch at Birchwood School was a recently constructed pitch with boards and goals with green nets. Positioned in the centre of the schoolyard, its placement also illustrated the importance of football to most pupils, not only in 6D, but at Birchwood School more generally. The game and the interactions on the pitch could often be exhilarating, encouraging, and tough, with expressions such as "What a shot!" and "Nice tackle!" often heard from pupils during games.
Even though football was formally available to all pupils and for girls and boys to be able to participate on equal terms, this was not entirely the case. Jenny, an assistant teacher in 6D, explained to me when reflecting on the girls who commonly chose to be on the pitch, "It's the slightly tougher girls who are on the pitch, I think you have to be that". As Jenny suggested, being on the pitch was not for everyone, but perhaps mainly for those who toughen themselves up, or who are capable of "playing rough" (Clark & Paechter, 2007, p. 265). The football pitch was not only important to pupils at Birchwood School in terms of having something to do during breaks, but even more so as an arena for pupils' social negotiations of social order, status, and "self-classifications" (Swain, 2000, p. 106). Performing as a footballer was thus a way of acting out how a boy should be in terms of socially defining who is "in" and who is "out". This meant that pupils, like Liam, Isabella, and Ava, who were not on the pitch were subordinated and conceptualised as the "other" (Swain, 2000, p. 105).
Although teachers and most pupils in 6C and 6D repeatedly stressed playing football as something very positive, for example, in contributing to a collective "we" and "us", a football pitch is not simply a free space for enjoyment. While being an arena valuable for pupils' social and physical well-being, the same space might also entail that the pupils who are not included find themselves caught up in a vicious circle that is hard to get out of. Indeed, Liam's, Ava's, and Isabella's experiences of being socially marginalised and left out were also socially visible in the schoolyard, as illustrated by the following fieldnote: It is break. I'm standing next to the football pitch and observing pupils in 6D playing football. It's Ebba, Lucas, William, Noah, Hugo, and three other classmates. Alice and Liv are standing in a circle together with two other girls and two boys in their class, talking to each other at one of the tables next to the pitch. I ask Liam who is also standing beside the football pitch, 'Liam, do you never play?' He looks at me: 'No, I think it's silly, to just run after a ball!', he replies. He walks away towards the swings. Ava and Isabella walk after him.
Liam's experience highlights the importance of the school context to bullying, where not participating, or not showing interest in the activity (such as football) that forms the social bonds between pupils, might come with the social cost of rejection and marginalisation at the "borderlands" of the schoolyard (Newman et al., 2006). In elaborating on the relation between football and their socially marginalised position, Liam, Ava, and Isabella explained: Liam: In our class you have to be a football nerd, you have to LOVE football to even get a chance of getting to know someone else in the class! Ava: And that's why we are left out! Isabella: We are sort of 'the ones who are thrown away' from the class.
As pointed out by Liam, Ava, and Isabella, pupils might be socially marginalised, excluded, and bullied because of being socially perceived as not living up to the desirable ideals in a certain setting. As Isabella and Ava noted, this had implications for their perceived popularity in the class: Isabella: We are like the ones who aren't so popular in the class … It can be because we really like … we three don't do sports, and most of the ones who are popular often do sports, we kind of usually sit at home and … Ava: Play something! As Isabella and Ava pointed out, rather than playing sports, Isabella, Ava, and Liam preferred to play games at home. Their lack of engagement in sports, and particularly football, appeared to negatively influence their popularity and served to marginalise them as those who did not fit in. This is also why some pupils in 6C and 6D at Birchwood School sometimes spent most of their break standing beside the football pitch, watching their classmates and other peers play football, as illustrated by the following observation of Wilma in 6D: Wilma is standing next to the pitch alone and watching her classmates playing football. 'Aren't you going to join?', I ask her. 'No, I don't like football', she answers. 'What do you like to do during the break?' I ask further. 'I don't know', she replies. A girl from 6C comes and stands next to Wilma. They are now both watching the other pupils playing football.
This fieldnote is an example of how important football is at Birchwood School. Wilma's comment about not liking football suggests that Wilma and her classmates did not spend their breaks in close proximity to the football pitch because they enjoyed watching the game. Rather, their decision to position themselves close to the pitch rather seemed to be a possible way to fit in, to not stand out, or be too "different" from their classmates and peers, but to rather be part of the peer community. Although the amount of time pupils spent next to the pitch varied from shorter to longer periods of their breaks, the pitch was like a social magnet for many of the pupils at Birchwood School, and even though the pupils playing football did not seem to take any obvious notice of the pupils at the side of the pitch, their standing next to the pitch seemed to give them a sense of being part of the other pupils' social interactions and peer community-a means of coping with a situation, whereby they otherwise risked being left out during breaks. This is also why being a pupil at Birchwood School and not playing football (such as Liam, Isabella, and Ava, for example) entailed being perceived as someone who does not live up to the ideal of how one "should" be. The feeling of not fitting in was raised by Liam: I have actually started to get tired of this class, because most of them are sort of … except for … [points at Isabella and Ava] … there are very few who are actually really kind … If I'm honest, it feels like I would fit in more in the other class.
Liam pointed to the importance of the particular class setting and suggested that he, and potentially Isabella and Ava, would fit in better in the other class. Thus, although football was very important to the pupils at Birchwood School in a general sense, the acceptance for not playing football seemed to be significantly higher in 6C, not least because there was a larger number of different groupings of pupils who did things together and were also more varied in relation to their interests. For example, there appeared to be a greater acceptance among the pupils in 6C for engagement in other activities, such as basketball, other ball sports, or playing on the swings. While the general importance of football at Birchwood School highlights the significance of the exo and macrosystem level (i.e., the importance of the school context and societal norms), the greater scope for the pupils in 6C to engage in other activities than football also underscores the importance of the mesosystem level (i.e., the difference between school classes) to school loneliness and bullying. This, in turn, underlines the importance of considering the interdependent bullying ecology more thoroughly.

Discussion
In this study, I have discussed how the concept of school loneliness and bullying can be understood within the different societal layers as experienced by three pupils. The experiences discussed have been put into perspective using ethnographic fieldwork with a total of 34 pupils and 7 teachers. The following questions have guided the study: (1) What are the pupils' experiences of school loneliness and bullying? (2) How can the pupils' experiences of school loneliness and bullying be understood beyond the individuals directly involved in the bullying situations? As underlined by the findings in this study, pupils may experience a range of bullying interactions. These may take "direct" forms, such as being called a "wimp", a "nerd", or a "sissy", having their behaviour commented on, having pencils thrown at them, or having their bag thrown in the toilet. However, they may also take "indirect" forms, such as not being asked to participate, being denied participation, or being treated as if they were invisible. In this study, I have pointed to the importance of peer belonging for pupils' well-being in school. Being denied participation may increase feelings of social alienation (i.e., the lack of connectedness and loss of meaning) related to the painful experiences associated with being socially rejected (Arslan, 2021;Rokach, 2019). The findings of this study demonstrate the ways bullying interactions are tied to the different layers, or "settings" of the bullying ecology. Indeed, the findings point to the importance of considering the different settings underpinning pupils' school experiences of direct and indirect bullying. Depending on the school or class context, pupils might be socially devalued for not playing football, not wearing makeup, or not wearing the "right" clothes or shoes, all of which may be socially evaluated by other pupils as signs of low social status and "misfitting" (Thornberg, 2018). As shown elsewhere, social evaluations of playing or not playing football might form the basis for pupils' perceptions of who is considered "appropriate", especially for boys (Swain, 2000). Such social evaluations are important to bullying, not least as pupils draw on these social "viewpoints" (Lyng, 2009, p. 474) in their decisions of "who belongs and why" (Forsberg & Thornberg, 2016, p. 20). Perceived "misfitting", such as lack of engagement in sports, and particularly football, may signal that some pupils do not belong (Hamarus & Kaikkonen, 2008) or that they should be considered "unworthy" members of the peer community (Søndergaard, 2012).
As demonstrated in this study, social evaluations may negatively influence popularity and serve to marginalise pupils as those who do not fit in (Hamarus & Kaikkonen, 2008;Thornberg, 2018). Indeed, the social marginalisation and bullying of Liam, Isabella, and Ava occurred in the microsystem of one school, and particularly in relation to pupils from one class, and, as Liam suggested, these interactions may have been quite different in another class or school setting where there was more acceptance for other non-footballing ways of interacting. The experiences of Liam, Isabella, and Ava also point to the importance of the mesosystem. For example, Isabella and Ava expressed how ways of interacting (e.g., playing computer games) in the home setting were not possible in the school setting and served to negatively affect their popularity there. This, in turn, highlights the importance of the exosystem. Schools, such as Birchwood School, are imbued with a range of possibilities for pupils to gain and establish "status/prestige" (Swain, 2002, p. 91), and these are influenced by decisions taken in relation to the design of playgrounds, the allocation of resources, and the prioritisation of some activities over others Swain, 2002Swain, , 2006. In turn, the norms associated with being a "wimp", a "nerd", or a "sissy", which connect football playing with status and popularity, and which influence decisions at the exosystem, stem from "consistent patterns of differentiation" at the macrosystem level (Bronfenbrenner, 1979, p. 26).
The findings of this study underline a number of important implications for principals, teachers and school staff who are obligated to work preventively: to (1) acknowledge that boys may also be exposed to "indirect" forms of bullying, as well as that girls can be subjected to "direct" forms of bullying; (2) to further work with trusting relationships between teachers and pupils so that pupils dare to tell teachers about their experiences at school; (3) to work together with pupils reflexively to address dominant norms at the school and challenge the social marginalisation of some pupils based on their perceived "misfitting" (Thornberg, 2018); (4) to carefully evaluate how breaks are organised, as well as what the organisation of breaks may entail for the pupils who do not share the interests of the majority; and (5) letting pupils be involved in the design of schoolyards, as well as for schools to find methods that empower pupils to tell about their school grounds in order to provide suggestions on how these may be improved. Indeed, as discussed in this study, there were school personnel present on the school yard at Birchwood School, and the principal, teachers, and school counsellors at Birchwood School worked ambitiously to counteract bullying and school loneliness. While I do not assert that all schools and/or classes have the same conditions and/or struggle with the same issues, an important conclusion of this study is nevertheless that neither adult supervision on the school yard nor school policies and/or class norms against bullying seem to be enough in themselves. The findings of this study call for principals, teachers, and other school personnel to consider social phenomena, such as school loneliness and bullying, as underpinned by the inseparable interplay of the bullying ecology.