The Future Of Childhood

Question 1

What is a ‘toxic childhood’

Answer 1

Where the rapid technological and cultural changes has led children to have their physical, emotional and intellectual development damaged due to the main factors such as decline in language and access to news.

Question 2

What main factors have made childhood ‘toxic’ in Sue Palmer’s argument?

Answer 2

1. Language is declining
2. Poor listening skills
3. Electronics (Tv’s, phones, consoles)
4. access to marketing through electronics
5. less sociable
6. access to news
7. not controlled by parents enough

Question 3

What do child liberationists believe children are victims of?

Answer 3

Age patriarchy - this is the idea that they are dominated or controlled by adults

Question 4

Who believes that childhood is disappearing ‘at a dazzling speed’

Answer 4

Neil Postman

Question 5

Why does Neil Postman believe childhood is disappearing?

Answer 5

1. Children having the same rights as adults
2. the disappearance of traditional unsupervised games
3. the growing similarity of children and adult clothing
4. Cases of children committing ‘adult’ crimes such as murder
5. the rise and fall of print culture and its replacement by television culture.

Question 6

Why is children becoming more literate at a young age ruining childhood?

Answer 6

They can read articles which can contain things such as sex, money and death when before in the old days they couldn’t, so these delicate subjects were more hidden.

Question 7

why does television break down the boundary between children and adults?

Answer 7

It does not have and special skills required to access it so it makes information more available to children, destroying the information hierarchy.

Question 8

Who came up with the idea of ‘Toxic childhood’

Answer 8

Sue Palmer

Question 9

Which known theorist disagrees with Neil Postman and says childhood is not disappearing?

Answer 9

Iona Opie

Question 10

Why does Iona Opie think childhood is not disappearing?

Answer 10

there is strong evidence that children do create their own independent culture from adults as she saw in traditional nursery rhymes and games.

Question 11

What do theorists think children are losing due to mass literacy?

Answer 11

Their innocence

Question 12

What are the 4 ways children are controlled by?

Answer 12

Space (bedroom, playground), time (curfew, bed times, getting up times), bodies (what they wear, eat.) and access (web filters, presents, the money they’ve been given)

Question 13

Who are the key thinkers of childhood in the future

Answer 13

Sue Palmer
Iona Opie
Neil Postman

Question 14

What are the key terms of childhood in the future

Answer 14

1. Globalisation
2. cotton wool kids
3. helicopter parents
4. toxic childhood
5. information patriarchy
6. dazzling speed
7. mass literacy
8. age patriachy

Question 15

What are helicopter parents?

Answer 15

They are parents that ‘hover’ over their offspring. filling their spare time with extra activities and tuition to make them be the best they can.

Question 16

What can go wrong with helicopter parents?

Answer 16

It can create too much pressure for children where they might no be able to cope with failure later on in life.

Question 17

What are cotton wool kids?

Answer 17

They are kids that are watched over 24/7 and are given limited social skills in order to be safe from any risks such as kidnapping.

Question 18

What can go wrong with cotton wool kids?

Answer 18

They may become insecure and have a false idea on the world because her/his parents have been telling a different story the whole time.

Question 19

child liberationists argue that the western notion of childhood is being globalised, why is this a bad thing?

Answer 19

It is just a view on what childhood should ‘ought’ to be, while in that culture of that third world country it may be the norm to do that certain activity as an important preparation for adult life.

Question 20

What does Philippe Aries (1960) argue about the historical differences in childhood?

Answer 20

Between 10th and 13th century,childhood did not exist.They were not seen as having a different nature.

Question 21

What fact factors of Philippe Aries idea that children and adults were the same?

Answer 21

They entered wider society at a young age,beginning work early in life and considered ‘mini adults’.Evidence shows a painting were adults and children are dressed the same playing together and working.

Question 22

What are the many reasons for changes in the position of children?

Answer 22

Laws restrict child labour and excluding paid work.
Compulsory education.
Child protection and welfare legislation’s.
The growth of children’s rights.
Declining family size and lower infant mortality.
Children’s health and development.
Laws and policies that apply specifically to children.

Question 23

Who has the view that childhood has improved?

Answer 23

March of progress view.

Question 24

What do the march of progress view about childhood?

Answer 24

That over the past few centuries the position of children in western societies has steadily improving.

Question 25

Why do the march of progress think that childhood has improved?

Answer 25

Child are more valued ,better cared for ,protected and educated,enjoy better health and have more rights than previous generations.

Question 26

Who has the conflict view of childhood?

Answer 26

Marxists and Feminist.

Question 27

What do Marxists and feminist about childhood improvement?

Answer 27

They argue that society is based on conflict between social classes or genders.Some groups have more power then others.They see this as domination and subordination in which the dominant is oppressors.

Question 28

How can you criticize March of progress view?

Answer 28

With conflict sociologists.They argue that there is still inequality among children with opportunities and risks they face.
Inequality between children and adults,children experience greater control,oppression and dependency.

Question 29

Why is there inequalities among children?

Answer 29

1. Children of different nationalities are likely to experience different childhoods and different life chances.
2. Gender differences
3. Ethnic differences
4. Class inequalities.

Question 30

There are inequalities between childhood and adults but what does march of progress argue?

Answer 30

Adults use this power for the benefit and protection of children.

Question 31

Who criticizes march of progress view towards inequality between children and adults?

Answer 31

Shulamith Firestone (1979) and John Holt (1974).

Question 32

What do Firestone and Holt argue about children and adult inequality?

Answer 32

Protection from paid work is not a benefit but form of inequality,Segregating children making them more dependent ,powerless and subject to adult control.

Question 33

Critics see the need to free children from adults control,what are the many ways of adult control?

Answer 33

1. Neglect and abuse
2. Children’s space
3. Children’s time
4. Children’s bodies
5. Children’s access to resources
6. Age patriarchy