childhood

• what is childhood?

  The human lifespan between infancy and adulthood (people are considered children until 18).
• Holme 1974

  Children should be able to do the same things as adults. Being 'too young' is never an excuse for children not being able to do particular tasks. 'If a child thinks he/she can handle it, the parents do not object.
• Firth 1970

  Children have as much power as adults. Doing what they're told to by adults is the choice of the child.

  (Tikopia of the western pacific)
• Punch 2001

  (rural Bolivia) - when children are 5+ they are expected to take work responsibilities in the community + home. Children also do tasks without hesitation.
• Malinowski 1957

  Children are treated like 'mini-adults'. Adults have tolerance and bemused interest towards children's sexual activities and explorations.

  (Trobibrand islanders)
• what is childhood seen as in western society?

  -golden age of happiness

  -children are vulnerable and dependent

  -children have no economic role

  -children and adults are separate, they have separate roles
• Aries 1960

  Aries looked at photos of children from the past and compared them to photos of children from when he did his research. He said in the older photos children looked like adults.

  -childhood is 'a recent invention'

  -childhood was shorter in the middle ages

  -children used to work from an early age as there were not laws against it

  -children used to die at an early age but no longer do
• Pilcher

  -children have their own status

  -childhood is a clear stage of life and distinct

  -there are now laws that make childhood a distinct stage

  -childhood is fixed

  -golden age
• laws + changes protecting children

  -laws restricting child labour

  -compulsory schooling (1880)

  -child protection + welfare legislation

  -increase in children's rights

  -decrease in family size (less children being born because of lower infant morality)

  -better medical knowledge
• AO3 - improvement in childhood

  -helicopter parenting: parents are around their children all the time and always monitor what they do - they also solve all of their child's problems for them. This is bad for society.

  -there are inequalities between children: women are valued less, so are girls - boys have more freedom; working class children are likely to have a worse childhood (having to start working + doing housework earlier); 90% of low weight babies = developing countries. Poor mothers are also likely to have low weight babies.

  -child liberationists think that children are too tightly controlled and need more freedom.
• James + Prout

  -children are simple amoral people

  -childhood is fixed

  -there are no grey areas: the world is in black and white (it is clear that childhood is separate)
• control over children's time

  Adults control children's daily routine. This includes things like when children wake up, eat and go out. Adults control the speed that children grow up at. Children used to be seen as 'mini-adults' and had to do the same things that adults did e.g., wake themselves up and make their own food.

  This change is supported by families being child centred but challenged by different cultures.
• control over children's space

  In industrial society, children's movement is highly regulated. Children are now less independent, there are more fears of stranger danger and road safety. Less children travel alone now than they used to. Developing countries have less control over surveillance and in some places children wonder around alone.
• control over children's bodies

  Adults have control over children's bodies e.g., how they sit, walk and do their hair. Adults restrict how children act with their own bodies. Children in non-industrial societies have more sexual freedom.
• control over children's resources

  Children have limited opportunities to earn money in industrial societies - labour laws control this.

  -state pays child benefits

  -pocket money is given to children by parents

  -the economic status of children differs based on culture
• Hockey + James

  Most children want to escape childhood because of the control adults have over them. Some control is justified (keeping children safe) but they should not be controlled too much.
• Postman

  Postman - 'childhood is disappearing at a dazzling speed.' Children now have access to adult material, children now have the same rights as children.

  Postman thought childhood became a thing because of the rise in print culture. The downfall/ decrease of childhood is because of the rise in television culture.
• print culture

  People had to be able to read to access information - adults could access more information than children.
• television culture

  People do not need to read to access information. Adults and children can access the same information and children are no longer protected.
• information hierarchy

  Adults were more powerful because they could access more information but, tv culture has decreased this and given children access to the same information.
• AO3 - Postman

  -Opie: childhood is not disappearing, there is strong evidence of children still remaining separate to adults

  -postmodernity: childhood has changed but has not disappeared (Jenk's theory). Relationships with children are important as they are a source of adults identity and stability.
• Palmer

  Cultural and technological changes have led to toxic childhoods. Children have been given access to explicit content, children have started to wear adult clothes, fast food is easy for parents but causes illnesses (1 in 4 children are overweight going into reception)
• who is socialising children? - toxic childhood

  Not only parents but also other people. Social media can also socialise children. Children are socialised by sources other than the parents.
• Gittens:

  Age patriarchy: adults control the time, space, resources and bodies for children which stops them from reaching independence until adulthood.