Is Modern Culture Ruining Childhood?

955 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: preventions to child abuse research essay

Is Modern Culture Ruining Childhood?
Modernity is one of the most important periods in the human intellectual history. Philosophers and historians claim that it has started somewhere in the middle of the 19th century. Modernity is based on the project of “modernization” (rationalization and scientification of the world in order to make it a better place to live). This project was born in the middle of the Western civilization and it was considered that it is heading the only direction - towards the progress. That is why Europeans and Americans thought that the entire world should align them. A lot of children in different countries got access to the basic education and started spending a lot of their time in schools or other educational institutions. It is inevitable to not to consider and to analyze how the modern models of education and culture (including popular culture) influence childhood. This theme is quite a discussion nowadays, however, one things do change.
First of all in order to understand what happened with the childhood nowadays, I’d like to view some historical examples. In the 1920th a new type of state was created. That was the USSR, founded on the ground of the former Russian Empire. It was the first “communist” state that defined itself as a brand new historical type of the society and a brand new type of human (Mickenberg, p.104). The soviet ideology was based on the idea that the behavior is mostly formed under the influence of the environment. That’s why in the USSR, government created a powerful propaganda in the different spheres, especially schooling. Schools were treated as a storehouse, used to put the necessary information in the children's' heads. In the USSR, people were strongly controlled by state...

... middle of paper ...

...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.

Show More
Related

  • The Developing Toddler

    1868 Words  | 4 Pages

    The purpose of this essay was to observe the everyday experiences a child has and how it is an illustration of theories and concepts of child development. To also have a better understanding of how these theories and concepts take important role in the child’s life. The observation took place in the child development classroom. The children observed were, Joshua at fourteen months old, Roman at twenty-one months old, Elizabeth at twelve months old, and Jayden at twenty-eight months old.

    Read More

  • The Evolution of Childhood in Europe and America

    2081 Words  | 5 Pages

    Strickland, Charles. (1984). The Rise and fall of modern American childhood: Reflections on the history of childhood in the twentieth century. Atlanta, GA: Emory University, Department of History. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED248977)

    Read More

  • Comparing Childhood Studies

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    All theories are research-based, and all investigation is centred on interacting with children and interviewing people involved in their lives, trying to understand the child’s view of the world. Childhood studies recognize that every child is different and socially constructed, influenced by external factors, such as cultural and social constituents.

    Read More

  • Mary Sherry's Essay: The Desire For Education

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    The material a child is exposed to influences the way they learn. Many smart and educated students get bullied for wanting to stay in and study instead of going out to party. Because of the social environment the “nerds” and “geeks” become social outcasts and could begin to lose interest in education. Today’s society does not promote the importance of education. While standing in line at the grocery store, many magazines are headlining about another wild stunt from a famous person such as the Kardashians. The other handful of magazines is about food. “Because of television, by the age of six, a child will have learned how to pick a lock, elaborate a fairy tale bank robbery, prevent wetness all day, to keep laundry white, and kill people with a variety of armaments.” (Baker

    Read More

  • Negative Essay: Why Is Childhood Be In Crisis?

    1667 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Changes of Canadian Children Since the 1800's

    1810 Words  | 4 Pages

    Children were strong and ambitious. They were the money makers of the family. This paper will argue how the mindset of a child has advanced in Canada, through the 1800s to the present era, in representing a different perspective of how a child evaluates the perception of how they approach life. Canada holds many histories of the past. The differences with children from to the past to the present are that children worked and produced a lot of labor, to keep the families from starving through the 1800s, present children rarely need to work. The educational system of the past has differed a great deal from the system they have created thought out the times that have developed. Children would use their imagination to create games and play, until the generation of television came into effect. Times have changed and children are one of the many. The social construction of childhood from the 1800s is a whole lot different from the construction of childhood from the 1970s. The agenda of children have changed and adults are not concerned with children working because the standard of living in families has developed a whole new concept, for how families should live life.

    Read More

  • Middle Childhood to Adolescents

    1935 Words  | 4 Pages

    The text depicts a historical perspective on Middle Childhood, as during the twentieth century, children were viewed primarily as an economic source of income, in terms of providing for the family. According to the text this happens often in European counties and in parts of the United States. Elizabeth D. Hutchinson, Dimensions of Human Behavior The Changing Life Course 3rd, 2008. In this short review we will look at how this historical perspective in itself is not a question to how, but when these individual give.

    Read More

  • Childhood as a Social and Historical Construction

    2111 Words  | 5 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • How Do Children Mature In To Kill A Mockingbird

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    Children are utmost naive during the times when they are not soiled by the darkness that society

    Read More

  • The Social Construction of Childhood

    2204 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Perspective on Childhood as a Social Construct: Historically and Today

    2367 Words  | 5 Pages

    Kehily, M. J. 2014. Understanding childhood: an introduction to some key themes and issues. [e-book] Available through: online https://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/openup/chapters/0335212689.pdf [Accessed: 20 Mar 2014].

    Read More

  • Essay On Disappearance Of Childhood

    2698 Words  | 6 Pages

    Palmer, S. (2006). Toxic Childhood: how the modern world is damaging our children and what we can do about it . London: Orion Books Ltd.

    Read More

  • How Has Childhood Changed Culture Essay

    1719 Words  | 4 Pages

    Now, children are not learning how I learned, but instead, teachers are teaching to a test. Childhood is being removed in the educational setting because of these tests and expectations. Children have less recess and imaginative play, sit for longer periods of time, have bigger classes, and schools are more technology based. Children are being transformed into miniature adults as they were in the past, and the “cradle period” is no longer valued as it was (Postman, 1994).

    Read More

  • Place For Children: Children's Places By Kim Rasmussen

    1030 Words  | 3 Pages

    Children live in a world designed for them by adults. The two cultures, child’s culture and adult’s culture exist side-by-side. As the children eventually mature into the adult world, they grow up learning the structure of what is expected of them. As children challenge the authority or expectations, they are battling the construction that was predetermined by the adults. Children have to live in a world where they are living in the structure, as well as being active agents. The two combating ideas are one component that makes growing up a difficult learning experience.

    Read More

  • Graduation Speech: Thank You!

    617 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Is Modern Culture Ruining Childhood?

Open Document