Childhood

• Childhood is socially constructed, therefore can differ from society to society over time
• Across different cultures, childhood is perceived differently
• Punch found children as young as 5 in Bolivia work, legally, they are allowed to work from 10 in Bolivia
• Firth found in the island Tikopia, children are allowed to make a choice about if they follow an adults rules
• Both Firth & Punch are supported by other statistics of research
• Punch's research struggles to generalise because of the limited nature of interviewing a parent
• Firth's research can be considered outdated
• The globalisation of Western Childhood is done through humanitarian agencies, such as campaigns against child labour or concerns of "street children"
• Historically, childhood has differed from todays veiw
• Aries found that during the middle ages, childhood did not exist and once passing through physical dependency, children were considered identical to adults
• Aries also found legally, there was no distinction of children and adults during the Middle Ages
• Aries found this through historical documents, such as diaries and art (a thing typically only achievable by the Upper Class during the Middle Ages)
• Postman found before printing press, there was no privacy or individual identity so sensitive information could be heard by children, such as through town speakers
• Postman found printing press allowed for the innocence of children to be created, however, due to modern technology that is reverting
• Lloyd De Maus; found that childhood has improved because of the awakening of people to the nightmare of childhood, we have only recently noticed the plight of childhood (SA, Murder etc)
• Lloyd De Maus argues society today is now "child-centred"
• Palmer argues that childhood has not improved because of the increase in learning disabilities, abuse and mental illness. Instead people are relying on "electronic babysitters" to take care of their children
• It can be argued that childhood has not improved because of the increase of inequality between children and between children and adults
• Hillman found that boys generally have more freedom then girls in the family
• Bonke found there are key class inequalities among children, working class children are more likely to have bad health
• Woodroffe claims children from manual labourers are more likely to have hyperactivity and conduct disorders than children of professionals
• Howard found that children of poorer families are more likely to die during infancy and longstanding illnesses
• Firestone and Holt found that childhood in modern society is characterised by oppression and control by their parents, in extreme cases this can lead to abuse
• Firestone and Holt are supported by the 20k Childline calls made per year
• Child Liberationists argue that children's bodies, time, spaces and access to recourse are all controlled
• Gittins believes there is an age patriarchy, adults are able to exercise control over children, such as through abuse
• 40k Children were on the Child Protection Register during 1998