Childhood

• What is a social construct?

  Not naturally occuring - created by society and varies by culture
• Modern western notion of childhood


  Golden age of happiness and innocence - vulnerable and need protection
• What is separateness?


  Childhood is a clear and distinct life stage - reflected in laws, dress, products and services eg toys
• Whose theory is separateness?


  Pilcher
• Wagg


  All children go through same physical development - other cultures children seen as equal to adults
• Benedict


  Children in non industrial societies treated different to modern western children

  - take less responsibility at young age

  - less value on obedience

  - children's sexual behaviour viewed differently
• Aries


  Childhood has changed - studied paintings

  Before childhood did not exist, children entered work asap

  Now childhood protected
• 3 reasons childhood has changed according to Aries


  Schools specialise in education

  Growing distinction between clothing

  Books on childbearing available
• Laws protecting childhood


  Laws applying specifically to children eg minimum wage, sex, smoking

  Child protection and welfare legislation

  Restricting child labour and paid work

  Compulsory schooling
• Other social changes for the reason for the changes in the position of children

  Declining family size and lower infant mortality rate

  Children's development become subjective to medical knowledge

  Growth of idea of children's rights

  Industrialisation - modern industry needs educated workforce
• Globalisation of western childhood


  Globalised by international humanitarian and welfare agencies eg campaigns against child labour
• Postman


  Childhood is disappearing due to collapse of information hierarchy

  Growth of technology gives children access to adult information that would previously had been printed so they couldn't read it - blurs distinction between adulthood and childhood
• What is information heirarchy?


  Division between those who can and can't access information
• Evaluation of disappearance of childhood

  Reductionist - places cause on rise of tv

  Opie - childhood is not disappearing but changing - still evidence of spare children's culture eg unsupervised games, rhymes and songs
• Jenks


  Childhood is changing with postmodernity (instability)

  higher divorce rates - Relationships with children more important to adults identity - children in need of protection and more vulnerable
• Evaluation of childhood in postmodernity

  Overgeneralising - implies all children are in same position
• Toxic childhood


  Rapid technological and cultural changes have damaged children's health, emotional and phycological health eg junk food, computer games

  Increase in ADHD, obesity, teen pregnancy
• Whose theory is toxic childhood?

  Sue Palmer
• March of progress view of the position of children


  Family has become more child centred - they are focal point of family

  Smaller family sizes - parents invest more financially and emotionally invested in children
• How has society become more child centred


  Media output and leisure activities specifically for children
• The new sociology of childhood

  Sees children as active agents who create their own childhoods