CHILDHOOD

BRIEF HISTORY OF CHILDHOOD

Centuries of Childhood (1962) – Philippe Aries The concept of childhood did not exist in

medieval Europe Based on contemporary letters, diaries and

other documents as well as the way children were depicted at the time

Weaned little adults and treated as such Worked alongside adults Behaved like adults in many ways

Why might there be problems in using evidence such as paintings and diaries to understand life?

MODERN CHILDHOOD

Developed from the separation of children from the work of adults

Began in the 16th C – upper classes sent their children to schools to be educated

Industrial revolution child labour

19th C factory acts banned employment of children in mines and factories

End of 19th C elementary state education became compulsory in European countries

MODERN CHILDHOOD

Children now had a separate legal status

Accompanied by development of adults specialising in children

Aries Our world is obsessed with the physical,

moral and sexual problems of childhood

Children have different needs

EVALUATION Criticised for overstating his case

There were laws in medieval Europe e.g. Prohibition of the marriage of children under 12

Many historians agree with this view, however.

IMAGES OF CHILDHOOD

Wendy Rogers (2001) Social construction of

childhood in 20th C Europe ‘innocent and wholesome

child’ and ‘wicked and sinful child’

Each image suggests a way of acting toward children

These views suggest that adults should be concerned with children and take responsibility for their upbringing

IMAGES OF CHILDHOOD

Welfare View Forms the basis of social

policy toward children in the UK today

Children Act of 1989 ‘when a court determines

any question with respect to the upbringing of a child…the child’s welfare shall be the court’s paramount consideration’

IMAGES OF CHILDHOOD

Control View Argues that children are

unable to control their anti-social tendencies

Rogers ‘there is no natural

distinction that marks off children as a certain category of person’ – meaning given to childhood at a time and place

In pairs, describe a day in the life of a 5-year old in Britain today. How many times a day might that child be controlled by adults? Use the headings:

Control over time

Control over space

Control over bodies

Access to resources

MARCH OF PROGRESS VIEW

Argues that over the past few centuries the position of children in Western societies has been steadily improving and today it is better than it has ever been

De Mause (1974) “The history of childhood is a nightmare from

which we have only recently begun to awaken. The further back in history one goes, the lower the level of childcare, and the more likely children are to be killed, abandoned, beaten, terrorised or sexually abused”

MARCH OF PROGRESS VIEW

Aries has a March of Progress View Children are more valued Better care More protection Better educated Better health More rights

Think about the IMR as well

Family has become child centred Society has also become child centred Tweens

CONFLICT VIEW ‘March of Progress’ view is false

Society is based on conflict There are inequalities between children – risk

and care, many remain unprotected Inequalities between children and adults –

experience greater control, oppression and dependency, not care and protection

NEGLECT AND ABUSE In 2006 31,400 children were on child

protection registers (mostly seen at risk from their own parents)

ChildLine 20,000 calls a year (sexual or physical abuse)

‘Dark side’ of the family

CONTROL OVER SPACE

‘no schoolchildren’

Surveillance

Road safety

1971 80% of 7-8 yr olds allowed to go to school without supervision

1990 fallen to 9%

Hugh Cunningham (2007) Areas in which children are allowed to travel alone has shrunk to

one ninth of the size it was 25 years ago

Cindi Katz (1993) Rural Sudanese children roam freely around the village and

outside of it

CONTROL OVER TIME

Samoans ‘too young’ never given as an excuse

Adults have control and prevent the child from touching their own bodies in certain ways too

Contrast with Trobriand Islands

Control Over Bodies

Resources

Money!

Labour laws

Compulsory schooling

Child benefit goes to the….parents

Pocket money given by….parents (control)

Katz Sudanese children already engaged

in productive work from three or four

CRITICS OF THIS VIEW

Reasons for this age patriarchy children cannot make rational choices (welfare view)

In the same way, children are not totally powerless: 1989 Children Act and the United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child children have a legal right to be protected and consulted

THE FUTURE OF CHILDHOOD

Postman (1994) – childhood is disappearing at a dazzling speed Similarity in clothing Same rights as adults Reason: the rise and

fall of print culture and then TV culture

ACTIVITY

Suggest 3 examples of ways in which children’s

activities, leisure, dress or food and those of adults have become similar in

recent years…

Postman has been criticised for overstating his case: Childhood is a long way from

disappearing Children have become a major

economic force:Taste in consumer goods have a

major influence on what is produced and purchased (Buckingham, 2000)

Nick Lee (2001)

Childhood has become more complex and ambiguous

Children are dependent on their parents but in another sense are independent – mass market

Children are both dependent and independent

A SEPARATE CHILDHOOD CULTURE

Opie (1993) – childhood is not disappearing. Argues that there is strong evidence of the continued existence of a separate children’s culture. The lifetime study on children’s

games, rhymes and songs shows that children can do and create their own independent culture separate of that of adults

O

WHAT IS CHILDHOOD NOW??

Palmer (2006) – toxic childhood Computer games, junk food, long work by

parents have damaged children’s development

Commercialisation of childhood

WHAT IS CHILDHOOD NOW?

Margo & Dixon (2006) – UK youth are at or near the top of international league tables for obesity, self harm, drug abuse, violence, sexual experiences and teenage pregnancies. 2007 – UNICEF survey ranked UK 21st of 25 for

children’s well being

What does this say about childhood?

Why do you think this has happened?

Kids with Guns

CHILDHOOD THROUGH THE AGES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB2gPZRsz0Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bojx9BDpJks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaZONLaB1aQ

THE CROSSOVER OF ENTERTAINMENT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmWiflT0pvc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faRlFsYmkeY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1203clOZt4

In groups create a tv advert that crossestwo generations – think of a product (toy, game, film) you could sell that appeals to both adults and children alike

You have 15 minutes to come up with youradvert then you will show the rest of the class

KEY TERMS

Childhood

Child Centred

Social Construction

Economic asset

Economic burden/liability

Infant mortality rate

March of progress view

Cross-cultural

Disappearance of childhood

Social blurring

Age patriarchy

ESSAY QUESTION

Assess sociological explanations of changes in the status of childhood (24 marks)

Examine the reasons for the change in the status of children since industrialisation (24 marks)

Examine the reasons for changes in the position of children in the last 200 years (24 marks)

Assess the view that childhood is not a fixed universal experience (24 marks)

QUESTIONS

1. Explain what is meant by the social construction of childhood

2. Benedict identifies three ways in which childhood in non-industrial cultures often differs from childhood in the west. State two of these

3. Why are children less of an economic asset to their parents today than they were in the past

4. Give one example of class differences between children

5. What is age patriarchy?

6. Why does Postman believe childhood is disappearing?

ANSWERS 1. What is meant by ‘childhood’ differs between societies and

depends on time, place and culture.

2. Children take responsibility at an earlier age: less value placed on them showing obedience; their sexual behaviour is often viewed differently.

3. Because they cannot work, even part-time, until they are at least 13 years old.

4. Among poorer children these are more likely: low birth weight; delayed development; higher infant mortality rates; longstanding illness; hyperactivity and conduct disorders; falling behind at school; being on the child protection register

5. Adult domination/ control and child dependence.

6. Because television is destroying the information hierarchy between adults and children and giving children access to knowledge that hitherto only adults only possessed.

EXAM QUESTION

Examine the ways in which childhood can be said to be socially constructed. (24 marks)