Childhood Flashcards
What is childhood?
=> A ‘golden age’ of happiness and innocence. Children are vulnerable and in need of protection; they must be quarantined and separated from the adult world.
What is the modern western notion of childhood?
=> Children are physically, emotionally and psychologically immature
=> Children’s lack of skills, knowledge and experience means they need a lengthy period of nurturing
=> Childhood is a clear distinct life stage
What are the cross-cultured differences in childhood (Benedict)?
3 ways that non-industrial society treats children:
=> Children take responsibility at an early age
=> Less value is placed on children showing obedience to adult authority
=> Children’s sexual behaviour is often viewed differently to western culture
Benedict argues that in non-industrial cultures, there’s less division between children and adults.
What is the globalisation of western childhood?
=> Imposed on the rest of the world that childhood should be a separate life stage
=> Campaigns against child labour and concerns on ‘street children’ reflecting how childhood ‘ought to be’
What is the historical differences in children?
=> Aries argues that in the Middle Ages, the idea of childhood did not exist and children were not seen as having a different nature to adults
=> Children were mini-adults with the same rights and duties as adults. They’d have the same punishments as adults when it came to the law.
What is the modern cult of childhood?
Aries notes modern notion to childhood came after the 13th century:
=> Schools came to specialise purely in educating the young, reflecting the church, who saw children as being in need of discipline
=> By the 17th century, there was a growing distinction in clothing
=> By the 18th century, handbooks on childbearing became widely available
What are the reasons for changes in the position of children?
=> Laws restricting child labour and excluding children from paid work
=> Introduction of compulsory schooling
=> Declining family size and lower infant mortality rates
=> Laws and policies that apply specifically to children
