In our society, childhood has been experienced by everyone, whether it is through their upbringing, working with children, or being part of a society that values and places emphasis on childhood. Childhood is seen as a natural and inevitable phase that we all must go through before reaching adulthood and it can be defined as ‘children’s ‘natural’ biological incapacities’ (Wyness, 2012 pg. 9).
James, Jenks and Prout (1998) argue that childhood is characterised by sets of cultural values whereby the ‘…western childhood has become a period of social dependency, asexuality, and the obligation to be happy, with children having the right to protection and training but not to social or personal autonomy’ (James, Jenks and Prouts 1998 pg. 62). Here, childhood is described in sets of distinguished features and these features imply that the concept childhood may vary from place, culture and time. Therefore suggesting that there is no fixed or universal experience of childhood, for example, childhood in the medieval UK will be extremely different to the childhood in modern UK and therefore it varies over time, place and culture. Since the definition and state of childhood may vary depending on our cultural and historical background, some sociologist claim that childhood is not just biological, but must have been socially constructed for a specific society needs at a particular time. In this essay, I will attempt to explore ways in which childhood is said to be socially constructed by looking at historical childhood and how it has led to construction of modern childhood in the modern society. I will also explore the agency of children as competent social actors able to construct their social world.
Having established what I will be discus...
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Childhood is often an age of innocence. It’s a time of learning how to get along in a big world. It’s a time in which friends grow up and discover who they are and who they want to be. Childhood is the foundation of our lives. This is when we establish rituals and rules that can be useful throughout our lives. Sometimes these rules can be learned though a simple child’s game.
Maybin, J. &Woodhead, M. (2003). Childhoods in context. Southern Gate, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Childhood can be defined as bundle of ideas and sentiments that characterise the socially constructed nature of childhood (Wyness 2006). Therefore, childhood and children’s experiences of everyday life are constructed by adults throu...
The study of children and their development is a new interdisciplinary field unifying research from sociology, anthropology, development psychology, law, and healthcare. Childhood studies emerged from the universal need to understand children’s development, their susceptibility to external factors, and what it means to be a child from the child 's perspective. Children differ depending on many factors, such as place, time, social status, religion, and tradition, and each of these aspects
The dictionary definition of a child is a young human being, an immature person and offspring (Oxford, 1976). This idea is reflected in Mead’s statement ‘that children to adults are representative of something weak and helpless in need of protection, supervision, training, models, skills, beliefs and ‘character’’ (Montgomery et al, 2003, p vii). The emphasis is on the concept of the child by adults rather than the size or mentality raising the notion that a child, and therefore childhood, is not just a biological concept but also an ideological one (Falconer, 2009). This ideology makes an oxymoron of Children’s Literature according to Rose (Hunt, 2009a) as adults write, publish and purchase books with each set of adults having their own ideas about childh...
Views on childhood have and still continue to change (Waller, 2009). The contemporary view that children are empty vessels (Skinner, 1974) is being disregarded as children are no longer perceived as passive recipients in an adult world (O’Kane, 2008...
Childhood is the period of being a child which is from birth up until when the child reaches puberty (adolescence). A myriad people perceive childhood as being fun and joyful but many would disagree and would now begin to consider it as being problematic. This essay will be impartial and promiscuous by discussing supporting arguments that childhood is and is not considered as being in crisis. Part of this essay will be looking at different authors or journalists who believe childhood is in crisis due to many factors such as; children not spending time outdoors, them being allowed to used electronics too much etc. While other authors and journalists will be looking at the opposite side as to children only being innocent or that parents are to blame and the media due to confusion over whether childhood is in crisis.
According to Philippe Aris a famous sociologist who studied childhood saw it as a social and historical construction (Montgomery 2009) he believed childhood did not really exist until the sixtieth century before that children had been treated as small and inadequate adults (Penn 2008). Sociologist Rinaldi also believed that it is society and different times in history that created childhood (Neaum 2010) Mayall believes children lives are lived through childhoods constructed for them by adults understanding of children and what children are and should be (Kehily 2009) a sociologist who has a different idea would be James and Prout 1990 who believe childhood is both ...
The term “hurried child syndrome” is defined by the Urban Dictionary as “a condition in which parents overschedule their children's lives, push them hard for academic success, and expect them to behave and react as miniature adults.” This fairly new issue was first proposed by child psychologist David Elkind in 2007. Elkind’s book “The Hurried Child” clearly shows his concern for the next generation and what the word “childhood” has become for them. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “childhood” is defined as “the state or period of being a child.” And “child” is defined as “an unborn or recently born person.” Noticeably, the dictionary definition is completely objective. There is no implication of how childhood is, or what it involves. In the major advanced cultures around the world, childhood has always been mentioned with a positive connotation of innocence and joy. But the hurrying of children seems to be defying this way of thinking.
While all societies acknowledge that children are different from adults, how they are different, changes, both generationally and across cultures. “The essence of childhood studies is that childhood is a social and cultural phenomenon” (James, 1998). Evident that there are in fact multiple childhoods, a unifying theme of childhood studies is that childhood is a social construction and aims to explore the major implications on future outcomes and adulthood. Recognizing childhood as a social construction guides exploration through themes to a better understanding of multiple childhoods, particularly differences influencing individual perception and experience of childhood. Childhood is socially constructed according to parenting style by parents’ ability to create a secure parent-child relationship, embrace love in attitudes towards the child through acceptance in a prepared environment, fostering healthy development which results in evidence based, major impacts on the experience of childhood as well as for the child’s resiliency and ability to overcome any adversity in the environment to reach positive future outcomes and succeed.
There are proponents of the debate that childhood is disappearing which will be discussed in this section which include Postman (1983), Elkind (1981) and Palmer (2006). In considering these points of view which are mostly American, one must firstly set in context what is meant by the disappearance or erosion of childhood. This key debate centres on Postman (1983) who wrote “The disappearance of childhood” which is a contentious book about how childhood as a social category which is separate from adulthood is eroding. He defines a point where childhood came into existence, which was treated as a special phase in the middle ages based on the work of Aries in his book “Centuries of childhood” (1962, cited in Postman 1983). According to Postman, a major influence on how childhood was perceived differently to adulthood was the invention of the printing press and literacy in the mid sixteenth century. That is to say children had to learn to read before the secrets of adulthood in particular sex and violence was available...
Over the years, childhood has changed in many ways. With the invention of the printing press and the spread of a print culture, this culture became the causal agent of the rise of childhood. When the print culture was replaced with an electronic medium, it became the primary agent in the decline of childhood (Postman, 1994).
...o centuries. Thanks to the development of health care and education, lots of people had a chance to have a normal childhood without suffering from illness, poorness and bad social environment. But it wasn’t as easy as it look from the first view. The traditional family has changed, leaving place for such an institutions, as kindergarten and school. On the one hand, for children this wasn’t so bad. Professional teachers gave much better education than anybody could receive at home. But on the other hand, children were deprived of the part of communication with their parents, especially on the emotional level. Besides that, the other problem is a commercialization of the youth in the adverts and entertainment market. Of course, this process has, both positive and negative sides, but mostly they cause the disappearance of the childhood as an important life stage.
Childhood is defined as the period in human development between infancy and adulthood(book). In a historical perspective, this is relatively new social construction. Early childhood most often refers to the months and years between infancy and school age children. Child development is influenced by a lot of factors. These factors influence a child both in positive ways that can enhance their development and in negative ways that can change developmental outcomes. To understand why childhood is such a crucial time in human life it is important to study the development before and after birth along with any factors that may alter life in between.
A childhood is the delicate phase of every adolescent's life where they must mature into their own person, with their own responsibilities. Although every individual will eventually bloom with their own personality, morals, and perspectives, the education and values we learn and see along the way add to the fingers that mold. We begin when we are born, and are taken in by strangers. These priceless people show us love, and just how strong attachments can be. Family ties snare us in their loving webs and become the support network to catch us throughout our youthful falls. They are our first real pictures of people, and their actions and emotions immediately become examples.