The Future of Childhood Flashcards
What does Toxic Childhood mean?
Rapid technological change and cultural changes have damaged children’s health, emotional and psychological development.
This concept highlights the adverse effects of modern society on children’s well-being.
What is information hierarchy?
A division between those who can access information and those that can’t, more pronounced prior to the invention of the internet.
This concept emphasizes the disparity in access to information across different social groups.
What does Child Centeredness refer to?
Children become the centre of decision making in the family, with decisions made in their best interests.
This concept involves parents investing more time and money in their children and possibly consulting them on family decisions.
Who is the thinker behind the Disappearing Childhood Thesis?
Neil Postman.
Postman argues that childhood is disappearing due to the collapse of the information hierarchy.
What evidence supports the Disappearing Childhood Thesis?
- Growth of technology giving children more access to information
- Children given the same rights as adults
- Blurring of adult and child culture
- Criminality of children committing ‘adult’ crimes such as murder and rape
This evidence illustrates the changing nature of childhood in contemporary society.
What is Opie’s evaluation of Postman’s Disappearing Childhood Thesis?
Childhood is not disappearing but changing; evidence of a separate children’s culture still exists.
Opie critiques the reductionist nature of Postman’s theory.
Who proposed the Toxic Childhood Thesis?
Sue Palmer.
Palmer argues that childhood has become damaging to the health of young people.
What evidence supports the Toxic Childhood Thesis?
- Increase in ADHD
- Increase in substance abuse and self-harm
- Increase in mental health problems
These trends indicate a decline in children’s overall well-being.
What factors contribute to the trend of ‘toxic childhood’ according to Palmer?
- Unhealthy food
- Lack of play in natural surroundings
- Poor sleep patterns
- Little family interaction
- Decline in emotional security
Palmer suggests these factors are leading to increased distractibility and self-obsession in children.
What is the criticism of Palmer’s Toxic Childhood Thesis regarding its cultural bias
It is ethnocentric and primarily reflects Western ideas of childhood, not applicable to developing nations.
Critics argue that this view does not account for diverse experiences of childhood around the world.
What is the criticism of Palmer’s Toxic Childhood Thesis regarding our understanding of mental health?
This is not a new phenomena but we now have better understanding of mental health and wellbeing so it appears to be more toxic.
What is the overview of Universal Childhood?
The Western notion of childhood is spreading around the world.
This concept indicates a global convergence towards Western ideals of childhood.
What evidence supports the idea of Universal Childhood?
- Campaigns for universal education
- Charities focused on street children and preventing child labour
- Globalized TV and media
These factors contribute to the global recognition of childhood rights and issues.
What is the New Sociology of Childhood?
Current studies often exclude children from data collection and according to Mayall view them as socialization projects.
This approach can overlook children’s perspectives and experiences.
What does Smart suggest regarding the study of childhood?
Children should be included in the study of childhood.
This perspective emphasizes the importance of understanding childhood from the child’s viewpoint.
According to Mayall, how should childhood be understood?
Focus on the present tense of childhood from a child’s perspective, recognizing children as active agents in creating their own childhoods.
This approach is favored by child liberationists and promotes unstructured interviews to gather children’s views.
Who favours the New Sociology of Childhood
child liberationists.
