TOPIC 2 - CHILDHOOD

• Benedict: Children from non-industrial societies are treated differently from modern in 3 ways:

  • They take responsibility at an early age - e.g Holmes study of Samoan Village, found that too young was never a reason for not sending a child to work
  • Less value is placed on children showing obedience to adult authority
  • Children's sexual behaviour is often viewed differently - Islanders in the west pacific took tolerance and amused interest
• The globalisation of western childhood: the western norms such as nuclear family, school, children are innocent and have no economic role e.g campaigns against childhood labour - reflect western views
• Historical differences in childhood:

  Aries - Middle ages, the idea of childhood didn't exist, began work from an early age, children were 'mini adults' e.g law made no distinction between children and adults (same punishments)

  • Aries used paintings (Bruegel) - show that children and adults are dressed and acting the same
• The modern cult of childhood: 13th century elements of modern began to emerge:

  • SCHOOLS - specialised purely on the education of the young, religion
  • Distinction between clothing, setting apart from adults
  • 18th century handbooks on childbearing

  Aries described the 20th century as 'the century of the child', showing that childhood is socially constructed, how ideas and social status have varied over time
• Reasons for changes in the position of children:

  • laws restricting child labour & excluding children from paid work
  • Introduction of compulsory schooling
  • child protection and welfare legislation (cruelty to children act)
  • Growth in idea for children's rights
  • Declining family size, lower infant mortality rate
  • Childrens development became the subject of medical knowledge
  • laws and policies that apply to children e.g minimum ages for activities such as smoking, sex
• Industrialisation - from agriculture to factory production underlies many of the changes in the position of children e.g - modern industry needs an educated workforce which requires compulsory schooling of the young
• The future of childhood - as its socially constructed it can change e.g from modern to post-modern
• The disappearance of childhood - Postman - children are given the same rights as adults - similarity of children and adults clothes, children committing adult crimes (murder). Versus middle ages speech was the only skill needed for a participation in the adult world
• The information hierarchy - a sharp division between adults and children who can read and who can't, this gave adults the power to keep knowledge about sex, money, violence, death - mysteries to children so childhood became associated with innocence and ignorance.

  • TV blurs the information hierarchy as it doesn't require specialist skills to access it
• The counterpoint of the disappearance of childhood is the disappearance of adulthood, where adults and children's tastes become indistinguishable
• Evaluation of the information hierarchy:

  • Unlike Postman, Opie argues childhood isn't disappearing, her longitudinal research on unsupervised games, she argues theres evidence of children's culture over many years
  • Postman's research is valuable in showing how different types of communications such as print and TV can influence a way childhood is constructed
• Childhood in postmodernity - Jenks believes childhood is changing, Jenks modern society is concerned with 'futurity' the preparation for an individual to become a productive individual in the future - to achieve this - need child-centred

  • In modern society adults' relationships were more stable but now post-modern society they are more unstable (divorce) creating insecurity so relationships with children become more important as a source of stability. So adults become more fearful for their children's security - strengthening the view of children as vulnerable and needing protection
• Evaluation of childhood in postmodernity:

  • some evidence supporting Jenks that parents see their relationship with their children as more important then with their partners but evidence comes from small, unrepresentative samples
  • Jenks is guilty of overgeneralising, despite greater diversity of families
• The march of progress view: argues the position of children in western society is steadily improving. Aries and Shorter also hold this view - todays children are more cared for, protected and educated e.g children today are protected from harm and exploitation laws against child abuse/labour. Better health care / living means babies have a better chance of survival now IMR was 154 per 1000 in 1900 but now 4 per 1000 today
• The child-centred family

  • Higher standards of living/small family size - down from 5.7 births to 1.83 in 2014, means parents can afford to provide for childrens needs
  • no longer seen and not heard - now the focal point of the family, parents invest greater emotionally and financially. Not just family more child-centred but the society as a whole
• Toxic childhood - Palmer argues technological and cultural changes have damaged children's physical, emotional and intellectual development: from junk food, computer games to long hours worked by parents

  • concerns about young peoples health and behaviour e.g UK youth has above the league tables for obesity, self-harm, drug and alcohol abuse
• The conflict view: (marxist/feminists) march of progress view of modern childhood is based on fake and idealised image, ignoring two inequalities:

  1. inequalities among children - in terms of opportunities and risks they face
  2. inequalities between children and adults - children today experience greater control, oppression, not greater care and protection
• Inequalities among children:

  • 90% of the worlds low birth rate babies are born in developing countries
  • gender differences between children - Hillman, boys are more likely to be allowed to go out after dark, use buses
  • Bonke found girls do more domestic labour, do 5 times more housework than boys
• Class inequalities among children:

  • poor mothers have low birth rate babies = delayed physical and intellectual development
  • children in poorer families are more likely to die in infancy, to be shorter, fall behind in class
• Inequalities between children and adults:

  • Firestone and holt argue many factors that march of progress writers see as care and protection are oppression and control e.g protection from paid work isn't a benefit but a form of inequality making them powerless and dependent
• Neglect and abuse:

  • childline gets over 20 thousand calls a year from children saying they have been sexually or physically abused - indicate a dark side to the family in which children are victims
• Controls over children's space:

  • signs such as no school children
  • control over children in public spaces such as shopping centres at times when they should be in school
  • fears about road safety = children driven to school

  Control contrasts with the independence of children in developing countries
• Controls over childrens time:

  Adults control the speed at which children grow up - daily routines

  they define if a child is too young or old for something which contrasts with Holmes - 'too young' is never a reason for not letting a child do a task
• Control over children's bodies:

  how they sit, walk ,run, what they wear, piercings

  but also restrict the ways in which children can touch themselves e.g don't pick nose, suck thumb
• Control over children's access to resources:

  • laws and compulsory schooling exclude them from employment
  • State benefit goes to parent not the child
  • pocket money may dependent on good behaviour and there may be restrictions on what they can spend it on