CHILDHOOD Flashcards
CHILDHOOD AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT
Sociologists view childhood as socially constructed; something created and defined by society. What people mean by childhood is not fixed but differs between time, place and cultures.This is shown by comparing western ideas of childhood with childhood in the past and in other societies.Pilcher notes the most important feature of modern childhood is separateness. Childhood is deemed a distinct life stage in which children occupy a separate statute from adults.This is emphasised through law regulations, dress codes and through products. As the golden age of innocence, childhood involves children’s protection from the dangers of the adult world and so children are largely in the sphere of family and education, where they are predicted and provided for, leading a life of leisure.However, this view is not universal; something created cultures do not see a clear distinction between childhood and adulthood (Wagg,1992). Benedict argues that in simpler societies, children differ from their Western counterparts in three ways: they take on responsibilities early (e.g., in rural Bolivia, five-year-olds have household and community duties); obedience is voluntary rather than expected (Firth’s study in the Western Pacific); and children’s sexual behavior is treated with amusement rather than restriction (as seen among the Trobriand Islanders).This highlights how childhood is shaped by societal norms rather than being a fixed experience.
GLOBALISATION OF WESTERN CHILDHOOD
Arguable western notions is childhood are being globalised. International humanitarian and welfare agencies have implosed to the rest of the world, western norms of what childhood should be- a distinct life stage in which children are innocent, dependent,vulnerable and have no economic role. Campaigns against child labour reflect western views of how childhood ‘ought’ to be.However, such activity might be the norm of the culture and an important preparation for adulthood. In this view, western childhood is spreading throughout the world. Yet such campaigns have little impact on the position of children in developing countries.
HISTORICAL DIFFERENCE IN CHILDHOOD
The position of children differ over time. Many sociologists and historians argue that childhood that is understood today is a relatively recent invention. Aries argues in the middle sages ‘the idea of childhood didn’t exist’. Soon after being weaned, children entered wider society on similar terms as adults beginning work from an early age.Children were in essence ‘mini-adults’ with the same rights, duties and skills as adults l.As evidence of his view, Aries used art from the middle ages.In these, children appeared without any features of childhood and simply depicted on a smaller scale. Shorter found that parental attitudes towards children in the middle ages were also different., the high infant death rates encouraged indifference and neglect. It was not uncommon for parents to give newborns the name of recently dead siblings or to forget how many children they had. According to Aries, elements of the modern idea of childhood began to emerge from the 13th century. Schools came to specialise in the education of the young, reflecting the influence of the church, in which saw children as ‘creatures of God’ in need of discipline and protection. In Aries view, the world has become obsessed with childhood, describing the 20th century as the century of the child. However he has been criticised for arguing that childhood did not exist in the past. Pollock sees its more accurate to say the middle ages had different notions of childhood from society today. Ultimately, Aries’ work is valuable as it show that childhood is socially constructed; notions about the social status of children has changed over time.
FUTURE OF CHILDHOOD
Postman argues childhood is disappearing at a dazzling speed .The trend towards giving children the same rights as adults, the disappearance of children’s unsupervised games and the growing similarity of Adult and children’s clothing contributes to this. In Postman’s view, the emergence of childhood and its current disappearance is found in the rise and fall of print culture and its replacement of Television culture. During the middle ages, the majority of people were illiterate , speech was the only skill needed for participation in the adult world. Childhood had no association with innocence, as there was no distinction between the world of the adult and that of the child. Postman argues childhood emerged as a separate status along with mass literacy, from the 19th century. The printed word creates an information hierarchy: a division between adults, who can read, and children , who cannot. Giving adults power to keep knowledge sex, money, violence and other adult matters a secret from children. These things were mysterious to them and childhood came to be associated with innocence and ignorance. However, TV blurs the distinction childhood and adulthood by destroying the information hierarchy. The boundary between adult and child is broken down, adult authority diminished. Children’s innocence is replaced by knowledge and cynicism. The counterpart of the disappearance of childhood is the disappearance of adulthood, where the existence of both becomes indistinguishable.
Opie makes an evaluative point, suggesting there is strong evidence of the continued existence of a separate child’s culture from her extensive research on children’s unsupervised games, songs and rhymes.
IMPROVEMENT TO THE POSITION OF CHILDREN
The March of progress view argues that the position of children in Western societies has steadily improved and is currently better than ever. Aries and Shorter see that children of today are more valued, better protected and educated and have more rights than previous generations. Eg, laws are implemented to protect children from child labour. Better healthcare and higher standards of living further increase babies chance of survival than a century ago. In 1900, the infant mortality rate was 154 per 1000 live births; today, it is 4 per 1000.Smaller family sizes also mean parents can afford to provide for their child’s needs adequately. It is estimated by the time a child turns 21, they will have cost their parents over £225,000. The march of progress perspective believes the family has become more child centred. Children are no longer seen and not heard, as they were in the Middle Ages. Instead, they are the focal point of the family. Parents invest more in the wellbeing of their children and their financial needs, often having higher aspirations for them than they themselves had. It’s not only the family that child centred; so, it society overall. Much of media is advertised specifically for children. Palmer counters the march of view. Otherwise suggesting children are experiencing a ‘toxic childhood’ in which the rapid technological and cultural changes have damaged children’s physical, emotional and intellectual development. Such changes can be found in the increase of computer games, junk food and the intense marketing to children. Concern is also expressed about young people’s health and behaviour: Uk youth have above average rates of obesity, underage pregnancies and alcohol abuse.
Conflict sociologists such as Marxist and Feminists dispute the MOP view of the improved position of children. They see society is based on a conflict between different social groups namely gender and social class. Within this, the relationship between groups as one of domination and subordination, in which the dominant group acts as oppressors. Conflict sociology sees the MOP view of modern childhood as false and idealised, ignoring important inequalities. One of which is the opportunities and risks many children experience as they remain unprotected and badly cared for. There is a furthered inequality present between children and adults which is greater than ever. Children experience greater control, oppression and dependency, not greater care and protection. This notion is explored by Gitten’s idea f a current ‘age patriarchy’ of adult domination and child dependency .
REASONS FOR THE CHANGING POSITION OF CHILDREN
- laws restricting child labour and excluding children for paid work
