childhood Flashcards
What did Jane Pilcher (1995) say about Childhood in her notes?
That the most modern idea of childhood is separateness.
In what ways are children from non-industrial origins different from those in western-society?
They take responsibility at an early age, have less value placed on their show of obedience, and their sexual behaviour is viewed differently.
What did Ruth Benedict (1934) say about how children are seen and treated inforeign times and places besides their own?
That children in simpler, non-industrial areas are generally treated differently from other, more civilised (western society) children.
What does Pilcher mean by separateness
That childhood is a clear and distinct stage in life, clearly defined and occupy a seperate status in society from adults.
What did Stephen Wagg (1992) say about the non-universality of childhood separateness?
while all humans go through the same states of physical development, different cultures construct or define this process differently, e.g. stages that mark ‘becoming a man’.
What is the globalisation of western childhood?
It’s the idea that childhood is a seperate from the other stages of life entirely, e.g. children should have different clothes, media, and school life.
campaigns about children in other countries such as against child labour reflect western views on how childhood ought to b
What did Aries say about the historical differences in childhood?
He argues that in earlier times, such as the Middle Ages, the idea of childhood ‘did not exist’. This is supported when he pointed out that in old works of art, children are depicted as mini-adults.
What does Aries then say about the modern idea of childhood?when ? how?
He states that the modern idea of childhood began to emerge from the 13th-century onwards. This is shown when schools began to specialise in younger pupils rather than adults (influence of church - fragile children of god in need of teaching)
, when clothing became more distinct between children and adults,
and child handbooks in 18th century
What were the reasons for the changes in the position of children?
(7) state 4
They were:
Laws restricting child labour and excluding children from paid work
The introduction of compulsory education
Child protection and welfare legislation
The growth of the idea of children’s rights
Declining family size and lower infant mortality rates
Children’s development became the subject of medical knowledge
Laws and policies that apply specifically to children
Which era heavily underlines many of the changes to the position of children?
The Industrialisation Period
What does Postman mean when he says childhood is disappearing at a dazzling speed?
He means that the disappearance of unsupervised children’s games, giving children the same rights as adults, and the growing similarity of children’s and adult’s clothing is why childhood is disappearing.
What’s the information hierarchy?
The idea that media and the information that it gives us can be (and is) controlled and filtered by adults so that children don’t know ‘adult business’ (death, war, politics, etc.) until they reach that age.
According to Parsons, why does the information hierarchy exist?
Because when childhood earned its seperate status, mass literacy rates began to spike, which led to a generation of adults who could read, and children who could not. This created the information hierarchy.
However, what destroys the information hierarchy in modern times?
Technology: TV, which is easily accessed by all, even children, and lately phones, which are given to children by their parents.
Who argues that Postman is wrong about childhood disappearing, and that it’s just changing?
Christopher Jenks (2005)
Who does Jenks agree with in terms of childhood? What do they agree about?
He agrees with Aries that childhood was a creation of modern society.
