Childhood Flashcards
Pilcher
the most important feature of childhood is seperateness. Childhood is seen as a clear and distinct life stage.
Benedict
in many non industrial cultures there is much less of a dividing line between the behaviour expected of children and that expected of adults. Such evidence illustrates the key idea that childhood is not a fixed thing found universally in the same form in all human societies but is socially constructed and so differs from culture to culture.
Philippe Aries - historical differences
argues that in the Middle Ages the idea of childhood did not exist. Children were not seen as having a different ‘nature’ or needs from adults - at least, not once they had passed the stage of physical dependency during infancy.
Aries - elements of the modern cult of childhood
elements of the modern notion of childhood gradually began to emerge
- schools came to specialise purely in the education of the young. This reflected the influence of the church, which increasingly saw children as fragile creatures of God in need of discipline and protection from worldly evils.
- distinction between children and adult’s clothing. By the 17th c, an upper class boy would be dressed in ‘an outfit reserved for his own age group which set him apart from adults.’
handbooks on child rearing were widely available - a sign of growing child centredness of family life.
The modern cult of childhood - Aries
He argues that we have moved from a world that did not see childhood as in any way special, to a world that is obsessed with childhood. He describes the 20th c as the century of the child.
Pollock
criticised Aries for arguing that childhood did not exist in the past. She argues that it is more correct to say that in the Middle Ages, society simply had a different notion of childhood from today.
However Aries work is valuable because it shows that childhood is socially constructed: he demonstrates how ideas about children and their social status have varied over time.
Reasons for changes in the position of children
- laws restricting child labour and excluding children from paid work: from being economic assets, children became an economic liability, financially dependant on parents.
- introduction of compulsory schooling: the raising of the school leaving age has extended this period of dependency.
- child protection and welfare legislation: Children Act 1989
- the growth of the idea of children’s rights: for example the Children Act defines parents as having ‘responsibilities’ rather than rights. This also lays down basic rights such as protection from harm and the right to participate in decisions.
- declining family size and lower infant mortality have encouraged parents to make a greater financial and emotional investment in the fewer children that they have.
- children’s development became the subject of medical knowledge: stressed the need that children need supervision and protection.
- Laws and policies that apply specifically to children: such as minimum ages for a wide range of activities from sex to smoking have reinforced the idea that children are different to adults and so different rules must be applied to their behaviour.
Industrialisation
the process of industrialisation - the shift from agriculture to factory production as the basis of the economy - underlies many of the changes. For example modern industry needs an educated workforce and this requires compulsory schooling of the young.
The higher standards of living and better welfare provision that industry makes possible lead to lower infant mortality rates.
Thus this is a key factor in bringing about the modern idea of childhood and the changed status of children.
Disappearance of Childhood- Postman
argues that childhood is ‘disappearing at a dazzling speed,’ He points the trend towards giving children the same rights as adults, the disappearance o children’s traditional unsupervised games, the growing similarity of adults and children’s clothing and even to cases of children committing adult crimes such as murder.
- the emergence of childhood and now it’s disappearance lies in the rise and fall of print culture and it’s replacement by TV culture.
During the Middle Ages most people were illiterate and speech was the only skill needed for participation in the adult world. Children were able to enter adult society from an early age. Childhood was not associated with innocence, nor the adult world with mystery. There was no division between the adult world and that of the child.
Postman - Information hierarchy
argues that childhood emerged as a separate status along with mass literacy, from the 19th C, onward.
This is because the printed word creates an information hierarchy: a sharp division between adults who can read and children who cannot.
this gave adults the power to keep knowledge about sex, money violence, illness, death and other adult matters a secret from children. These things became mysteries to them and childhood came to be associated with innocence and ignorance.
Now TV blurs the distinction between childhood and adulthood by destroying the information hierarchy.
Unlike the printed word, TV does not require special skills to access it and it makes information similar to children and adults.
The boundary between adult and child is broken down and adult authority diminishes. The innocence of childhood is replaced with knowledge.
- Another factor is where the adults and children tastes and styles become indistinguishable.
Criticism of Postman - Opie
- childhood is not disappearing.
Argues that there is strong evidence of the continued existence of a separate children’s culture through children’s unsupervised games, rhymes and songs. - P study is valuable in showing how different types of communication technology such as print and TV has an influence. However he overemphasises a single cause - TV at the expense of other factors that have influenced the development of childhood.
Jenks
- does not believe childhood is disappearing but he does believe it is changing.
- agrees with Aries that the idea of childhood was a creation of modern society.
- modern society was concerned with ‘futurity’ and childhood was seen as a preparation for the individual to become a productive adult in the future. To achieve this the vulnerable, undeveloped child needed to be nurtured, protected and controlled, especially by the child centred family and by the education system which imposed discipline and conformity on children.
- Now Jenks argues childhood is once again undergoing change as society moves towards post modernity.
Jenks - Childhood in Postmodernity
In modern society adults relationships were more stable but in postmodern society, the pace of change speeds up and relationships become more unstable. This generates feelings of insecurity. In this context relationships with their children become more important as a source of adults identity and stability.
- Relationships with their children become adults last refuge from the constant uncertainty. As a result adults become even more fearful for their children’s security and even more preoccupied with protecting them from perceived dangers such as child abuse.
- this further strengthens the view that children are vulnerable and in need of protection, resulting in even greater surveillance and regulation of children’s lives.
For this reason J does not agree with Postman that we are seeing the disappearance of childhood. Childhood continues to be a separate status and the legal and restrictions placed on what they can do continues to mark them off from adults.
Criticism of Jenks
- evidence for both for and against Jenks is limited. There is some evidence that parents see their relationship with their children as more important than that with their partners and that partners are very concerned about the risks they believe their children face. However the evidence comes from small, unrepresentative studies.
- Jenks is guilty of over generalising. Despite the greater diversity of family and childhood patterns found today, he makes rather sweeping statements that imply that all children are in the same position.
Aries and Shorter - The march of progress view
argue that today’s children are more valued, better cared for, protected and educated, enjoy better health and have more rights than those of previous generations.
e.g. protection from harm, specialist caters for their educational, psychological and medical needs, etc.
