Diary of an innocent

In the streets [of North Africa], the café's, movie theaters, shops, little kids are treated as equals. They go out on their own, hang out where they want like everybody else. They spend their time off with one another, meet up, laugh, run, bicker, tell what's going on with them, study in small groups, have fun with everything and nothing, never being forced to confine themselves to places reserved for children; they live outside freely, and there's no adult keeping his eye on them to "emcee" or control their pleasures, leisure, friendships, or bodies. They're not afraid of strangers, go out at night alone or in groups, are as curious as casts, love to blab, to be surprised, to create situations that are fun or turn-on or that put them in a good light; and since putting them to work at a young age leads to their rubbing shoulders with adults, they spread their vitality, happy-go-lucky attitude and mischievousness to those places, brightening up the most morbid workshops and filling them with their explosive laughter.

source: From the book 'Diary of an Innocent' by Tony Duvert; Translated from the French and with an introduction by Bruce Benderson; Semiotext(e), Los Angeles; French edition (Paris): 1976; English translation: 2010