childhood

Question 1

Childhood is a social construct

Answer 1

• school leavers age changed from 12 to 18, socially unacceptable to be in full time work at 12 and illegal in UK
• children work as young as 5 in other countries

‘childhood’ adapts to social attitudes

Question 2

What is the functionalist argument of childhood

Answer 2

• march of progress
• school leaving age has gone up = better education
• child protection improvement = laws

Question 3

changing norms + child centredness

• childhood has been socially viewed as being important thus they need to be spoiled etc ‘quality not quantity’

Answer 3

cost of raising children has increased as children expect more to be spent on them - childhood has been socially constructed as having importance - aka you need to spoil children = quality not quantity = decrease in fertility rate

Question 4

Children are protected by laws

Answer 4

• laws on sexual behaviour, alcohol, and tobacco

- children act 1989: taken away from unsuitable parents

Question 5

How can the increasing status of childhood help capitalism (marxist)

Answer 5

child centredness makes pester power more influential - children more likely to convince their parents to buy them things which leads to more mass consumption

Question 6

What is toxic childhood?

Answer 6

• children are ‘growing up too quickly’ e.g exposure to tv, media etc leads to exposure to ‘adult’ topics like alcohol, sex, etc