Childhood

Has childhood improved?

Social construction of childhood - how we define 'childhood' is not fixed and depends on time/ ethnicity/ social-class/ culture/ place etc

What is the future of childhood?

Cultural differences

Pilcher - modern western notion of childhood - 'separateness' and distinct life stage - physically and psychologically immature and need protecting


1. Legal separateness - eg Child Labour laws/ 1870 Forster's Education Act introduced compulsory schooling/ voting age 18


2. Cultural separateness - clothing/ TV / discounts eg bus ticket/ food

Historical differences

Bhatti - Asian families have more strict control over children, especially girls (izzat = family honour/ obligation)

Aries - the idea of childhood did not exist in the Middle Ages (10th-13th c.) - looked at representation of children vs adults in art (dressed the same and played)

Golden Age of Childhood = time of happiness and innocence; protected/ sheltered from dangerous adult world

Wagg - childhood is socially constructed and not universal - means different things in different parts of world - non-industrial cultures


eg Malinowski - Tobriand Islanders South Pacific - sexual activities viewed as experimentation/ not shunned VS Western sex ed, 'birds and the bees'


eg Punch - 5-year-old Bolivian children taking work responsibilities in local community


eg rural Sudanese children allowed to roam freely around village without adult supervision

Middle Ages (10th-13th c.) CHILDHOOD NOT SIGNIFICANT


1. children seen as 'mini-adults' - same rights and duties


2. same punishments for children


3. referring to babies as 'it' or giving name of dead sibling

Post-13th c. - Modern cult of childhood began to emerge OBSESSED W CHILDHOOD


1. children viewed as 'fragile creatures of God' eg Cherubs, miracle of childbirth - handbooks on childrearing


2. decline in the IMR - babies live longer so we have less of them


3. schools started specialising in education of the young

Pollock - value judgement - childhood did exist in the Middle Ages but it was just seen differently - eg disease and high IMR meant children had to grow up quickly - links to Parsons' Functional Fit theory - emotional detachment from children within family was functional for the society at the time

Reasons for changing position of children


1. decline in IMR - children more likely to survive (medial improvements) so no need to have 'replacements' - economic liability of children - CHILD CENTRED SOCIETY


2. Child protection - multi-agency approach of police/ schools/ social services - teacher trained to report signs of abuse


3. 1989 Children's Act - parental responsibility > parental rights - you have to be a good parent rather than just a parent


4. 1870 Forster's Education Act - introduced compulsory schooling - school leaving age now 18 - child labour laws


5. Postmodern self-improvement culture - children seen as a 'blank slate' to improve/ give opportunities you didn't have




March of Progress view

Conflict view

Gittens - Age Patriarchy

control of bodies

control of time

control of resources

control of spaces

New sociology of childhood

Postmodernists - Jenks - childhood is not disappearing but changing - still remains separate from adults

Postman - childhood is 'disappearing at a dazzling speed'

Smart - child's POV anti-adultist - active role in divorce example

Globalisation and homogenisation - means the Western view of childhood may be spreading to these de industrial places - most global childhood welfare policy seen through a Western lens (eg charity ads)

Are we separate from adults? PM society means identities are not fixed and children can dress as adults and therefore be treated like adults - childhood redundant

1989 - UN Rights of the Child , PREVENT UK - children seen as vulnerable and need protecting

Information hierarchy = printed word creates a hierarchy where children cannot access information (can't read)

Middle Ages (10th-13th c.)


  • No divisions between adult and child because most people were illiterate (cannot read) and speech was the only skill needed to access adult information
  • No information hierarchy
    CHILDHOOD = NON EXISTENT

19th c.


  • Divisions between adult and child
  • Childhood emerged alongside the printed word and mass literacy (eg newspapers)
  • Information hierarchy created - knowledge about sex, death, illness, crime kept secret from children
    CHILDHOOD = INNOCENCE AND IGNORANCE

Now


  • No divisions between adult and child
  • TV and audio-visual media are accessible to children and do not require literacy skills
  • No information hierarchy
    CHILDHOOD = KNOWLEDGE AND FATALISM

iPad kids and accessibility of TikTok - children can learn much more information (eg infographics) from social media, often more than their parents - also vulnerable to misinformation

Ione Opie - study into children's culture eg books, games, songs provides evidence of childhood - can be extended to children's TV but (eg CITV, CBBC) - not accessing adult material

Modern society (childhood emerged when society changed to modern)


  • Childhood was a preparation for becoming a productive adult
  • Children protected and socialised to conform to certain behaviours
  • Adult relationships stable (no divorce)

Postmodern society (childhood changed when society changed to postmodern)


  • Adult relationships unstable (increase in divorce rate) - links to individualisation thesis
  • Children are even more controlled and protected by parents as their relationship is the ''last refuge from uncertainty'' in family
  • Increased fear for children's safety - eg child abuse, kidnapping
  • Therefore children are seen as even more vulnerable - more surveillance by adults (eg Life 360)

Life 360, Find My Phone apps - increased surveillance of children