Childhood Flashcards
1
Q
Dominant Framework View of Childhood
A
Jane Pilcher - Modern Western Notion of Childhood
- Most important feature is separatedness
- Children are physically and psychologically immature compared to adults
- Children are dependent on adults for biological and emotional needs
↳ They need to be socialised which takes several years - Children are not competent to run their own lives and cannot be held responsible for their actions
- Child specific places where only children and ‘trusted adults’ can go eg schools and soft plays so children are relatively sheltered
- Products designed specifically for children which adults aren’t supposedly to play with
**Prout and James - ‘Dominant Framework’ which we view childhood
- Common sense assumptions see childhood as a natural and inevitable phase of life we all have to go through
- Adults are seen as the opposites to children; eg children are simple, adults are complex
- Adults are biologically mature, are competent to run their own lives and are fully responsible for their actions
2
Q
Childhood as a Social Construction
A
- Childhood is not a natural, biological stage in development but a social role which is learnt through socialisation
- Childhood is not fixed but differs across times, places and cultures
- Eg different societies think differently about the place of children, what they should/shouldn’t be doing at certain ages, how they should be socialised and which age they should be regarded as adults
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Ruth Benedict: children in traditional, non-industrial societies are generally treated differently from children in modern western societies
↳ Punch: found that once children are 5 they are expected to take on work at home and in the community - 60% of children drop out of school to work
↳ Children’s sexual behaviour is often viewed differently: eg age of sexual consent and marriage varies across cultures - at least 27% of girls are married before 18 in India
↳ Child soldiers - at least 13000 people had been kidnapped and turned into child soldiers as young as 10
3
Q
Philippe Aries - Childhood is a social construction
A
- In the middle ages, the idea of childhood did not exist; children were not seen as different to adults
↳ children expected to work at an earlier age
↳ law made no distinction between children and adults - It is only from the 13th century onwards that modern notions of childhood (it’s a distinct phase of life) emerged
↳ introduction of schools made separation between age groups and introduced it as a distinct phase of life
↳ wealthier people started to dress their children in distinct clothing as a mark of status
↳ church leaders began to see children as fragile creatures that needed to be safeguarded and reformed - Lead to society becoming more child centred; the wellbeing of the child gradually seen as more and more important
↳ Calls this a ’cult of childhood’: we are obsessed with our children
Evaluations
- Coroners reports for the 13th century show that parents did care for their children
- Archaeological evidence of the existence of children’s toys and games and thus a distinct phase of childhood
4
Q
Changes to Childhood since Victorian Times (Link to Child-Centred Society)
A
1) Child Labour restrictions and compulsory schooling
- 1833: recommended that children under the age of 9 we’re no longer permitted to work
- Today there are many restrictions on working until age 15
- Attendance at school is compulsory so they cannot work
2) ‘Rights of Children’ have become more central to society
- 1880: Education became compulsory up to the age of 10 and gradually expanded up to the age of 18 today
- United Nations developed the Universal Rights of the child
- Children now have an internationally recognised right to education, healthcare and right to play
3) Increase in child protect and welfare legislation
- Every Child Matters (2007): ‘Schools and Families have a responsibility to ensure students stay healthy and enjoy their childhood’
4) Family size has declined & decreasing infant mortality rate
- Late 19th century: women had an average of 5 children
↳ declined to 2 today - As a result, parents spend more time with their children
5) There had been an increase in wealth and standards of living
- Parents today an average of £250k on each child
- Children have free healthcare and education and a range of products and services specifically for them
5
Q
March of Progress View of Childhood
A
- Over the past few centuries, the position of children is Western societies has been steadily improving and today is better than it’s ever been
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Aries and Shorter: todays children are much more valued, better cared for, better protected and educated, enjoy better health benefits and have more rights than those of previous generations
↳ children are protected from harm and exploitations by laws against child labour/abuse
↳ government spends £90 billion a year on their education - Babies have a much better chance of survival now than a century ago; infant mortality rate is now 4 per 1000 compared to 150 per 1000
- Parents spent more money on their children: cost of raising a child topped £225k in 2014 for the first 21 years of their life
↳ these costs are rising
↳ Carr: increase is mainly now being spent on caring for children’s emotional and psychological needs and there is increased expenditure being on childcare, education and healthcare and lesser on hobbies and leisure
↳ does point out poorer families struggle to meet their children’s needs on low incomes and some of the healthcare expenditure is being spent on managing new health problems among set kids (obesity/emotional disorders)
↳ spending more due to both parents working, advertising (& pester power - parents give into demands for unnecessary stuff)
↳ hardly child centeredness because welfare is not at the centre
Criticisms
- Conflict theorists: in some ways children’s lives are worse than they used to be
- Sue Palmer Toxic Childhood: recent technological changes have resulted in significant harms to children
- Significant inequalities between children: not all children have benefited equally
- Evidence that Britain’s children are amongst the unhappiest in the worst
↳ children are more unhappy than they have been in a decade (306k 10-15 years olds in the UK) - Frank Furedi Paranoid Parenting: children today are too controlled/overprotected
6
Q
March of Progress View - Child Centred Society
A
- Family has become child centred: children are no longer to be ‘seen and not heard’
↳ Children are the focal point of the family, consulted on decisions and invested into - Higher living standards and smaller family sizes means parents are spending over £225,000 by the time their child is 21
Supporting evidence
- People spend more money and time on/with their children
- Parents are more emotionally attached to their children
- There are specific products and services available to only children and not adults
7
Q
Sue Palmer - Toxic Childhood
A
- Technological and cultural changes has had a negative impact on child development
- Solutions = more outdoor play, more social interaction, less screen time
Five ways childhood is toxic
1) Decline of outdoor play:
- Less than 10% of children regularly play in wild places compared to 50% a generation ago
- Can have an impact on children’s physical and emotional well-being: suggested a so-called ’nature deficit disorder’ & could link to increased childhood obesity
2) Commercialisation of childhood:
- Increased advertising targeted at children links to children being exploited by advertisers
3) **’Schoolification’ of early childhood:
- Stopping children from free flow play reduces independence
- Bringing in form teaching too early would be counter productive and lead to high levels of stress
4) Screen saturation and child development
- Increase in technology reduces face to face interaction and affects social development
- Children are spending on average 23 hours a week on smartphones and other technology
5) Tests, targets and education
- Increase in tests and exams causes immense pressure and increases anxiety among cxhikdren
Criticisms
- Could be an example of an adult ‘panicking’ about technological changes
- Children are better off today as consumers rather than producers (child labourers)
8
Q
Inequalities between children - Criticism of March of Progress view
A
Children have not benefitted equally from universal education
- Rich children on average benefit a lot more than poor children
- Approx 38% of pupils eligible for FSM obtained at least 5 GCSE grades including maths and English (compared to 65%)
- Half of all A and A* grades at A Level in the UK are secured by the 7% of pupils who are privately educated
↳ 4.5x as much is spent on teaching them compared to state pupils
Children Protection services fail to protect many children from harm
- In Rotherham, gangs of Asian men groomed, abused and trafficked 1400 children and police/councils ignored them despite reports and warnings of what was happening
↳ Children as young as 11 has been raped by many different men, abducted, beaten and trafficked to other towns/cities
↳ Findings were suppressed/ignored by the police who failed to act and deemed the victims as ‘not worthy of protection’
Some British Asian girls are forced to grow up earlier than the norm
- Up to 3k Asian women subjected to forced marriages
↳ 2011: the Forced Marriage Unit in the UK had taken up 400 live cases of force marriage
↳ Suggested there might be up to 10k forced marriages/threat of forced marriages per year in the UK
9
Q
Gender differences in childhood
A
- Sharpe, Oakley and Fine: boys and girls are socialised into a set of behaviours based on cultural expectations about masculinity and femininity
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McRobbie: girls experience of childhood may differ from boys because parents seen them as in greater need of protection from the outside world
↳ they are subjected to stricter social controls from parents compared to boys -
Chapman: boys experience of childhood involves toning down their emotionality and familial intimacy
↳ they effectively acquire masculine skills and attitudes required for their adult roles as a breadwinners - Girls gave a different experience of childhood in terms of bedroom decoration, the toys they receive, the nature of their play, the chores they do and their interactions with their parents compared to boys
10
Q
Social class differences in childhood
A
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Lareau: middle-class childhood was socially constructed by parents who were engaged in a ‘concerted cultivation’ of children
↳ working class parents emphasised ‘natural growths’ of their children and did not cultivate their children’s special talents - Donzelot: poor families and their children are more likely to be controlled and regulated by the state
- Nelson’s Helicopter Parents: rich parents excessively interfere in the lives of their children in terms of guidance and shaping their childhood
- Upper class children may spend most of their formative years in private boarding school
- Middle class children may be encouraged from an earlier age to aim for university and a progressional career
↳ likely to receive considerable economic and cultural support from their parents
11
Q
Ethnicity differences affecting experiences in childhood
A
- **Ghumann*: many Muslim children spent their Saturday mornings at the Mosque learning the Qu’ran & generational conflicts exist
-
O’brien et al: race and gender often interact to have a negative impact on the experience is childhood
↳ Asian girls not being allowed out on their own compared with young Asian males due to parents thinking they are more vulnerable than males - Muslim, Hindu and Sikh children generally feel a stronger sense of obligation and duty to their parents than white children
12
Q
Global experiences of childhood
A
- Punch: children in developing societies may find themselves accepting roles as workings eg in Bolivia children as young as 5 were out to work
- Children in industrialised countries are less likely to have access to education
- War shapes childhood due to killings of children, increased likelihood of children becoming orphans, refugees, slaves and soldiers
- Thousands of children (some as young as 10) are serving as child warriors around the work
- In many countries, street children are not regarded as special or as in need of protection
13
Q
Dianna Gittins: ‘Age Patriarchy’
A
- Age Patriarchy = adult control over children
Takes a number of forms
1) Control over resources
- Labour laws and compulsory schooling make children financially dependent on adults
↳ Firestone: sees protection from paid work as forcibly segregating children, making them powerless and dependent
2) Control over children’s space
- Increase in surveillance of children in public spaces
- Eg School; children are monitored more than ever through registers, constant testing and CCTV
↳ Children are controlled when travelling and there has been a reduction in the amount of children travelling to school alone
3) Control over children’s time
- Parent restricts children through daily and weekly routines
↳ Children today are given less time to themselves with parents scheduling in more activities for them to do inevenings and weekends
4) Control over children’s bodies
- Parents control how children dress and how they interact physically with other children and over their own bodies
Supporting evidence
-
Cotton Wool Kids: children are overprotected like they’re ‘wrapped in cotton wool’
↳ they cant get the freedom to build up skills and confidence
14
Q
Frank Furedi: Paranoid Parenting
A
- Fear of children’s safety has increased and many parents see the world as hostile territory for their children
- Eg although incidence of child murder by a stranger and incidence of road injuries is very low and has shown no change in the past 20 years, most parents thought there had been an increase in cases
- Led to parents to restrict their children’s independent outdoor activities and now fewer than 1 in 10 8 year olds walk to school alone
↳ this also diminishes the creative aspects of play and has consequences for their development - Sedentary lifestyle is inevitably bad for their health : an average British schoolgirl now walks for less than 7 mins a day
- Internet is seen as posing new dangers to children and parents discuss how to protect children from it
↳ parental insecurity - many parents feel insecure and fearful of what they do not understand and do anything can be turned into a potential childcare crisis
15
Q
Neil Postman: Disappearance of Childhood
A
- The distinction between childhood and adulthood is narrowing and so childhood is disappearing
- Looked at the trend towards giving children the same rights as adults, the growing similarity of adult and children’s clothing and even cases of children committing ‘adult crimes’
- Based on the view that communications technology is the primary thing which shapes society
- In the middle ages, most people were illiterate and speech was the main form of communication and so there was hardly any distinction between adults and children
↳ Childhood emerged along with mass literacy because the printed word created a division between those who could read and who couldn’t
↳ division emerged because it takes several years to master reading and writing - Now, TV and the internet blur this separation and that children are much more able to access the adult world
