Childhood Joan Garrod

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ChildhoodJoan Garrod
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What is childhood?

• Some sociologists say that childhood is a
  social construct.
• What do they mean by that?
• In our society, when do you think that someone
  stops being a child?

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Childhood and particular ages

• You may have included an age as part of your
  answer to the question of when someone stops
  being a child. However, there are problems in
  defining childhood in terms of age
• Up to the nineteenth century many people in the
  UK did not know their actual date of birth and so
  had only a rough guess as to their age. Age
  status was often judged by how a person looked
  and behaved.
• Try the following quiz to see how difficult it is
  to use a particular age as the end of childhood.

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Quiz (1)

• In England, at what age can you legally
• Buy a pet?
• Give evidence in a court of law?
• Be in part-time employment?
• Hold your own passport?
• Own a shotgun or airgun?
• Sit on a jury?
• quiz continues on next slide

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Quiz (2)

• In England, at what age can you legally
• 7. Be given a custodial sentence (i.e. be
  sentenced to prison or other form of custody) if
  convicted of a crime?
• 8. Drink beer or wine with a meal in a licensed
  restaurant?
• 9. Emigrate without your parents?
• 10. Consent to medical or dental treatment?
• 11. Have a legal right to be heard?
• 12. Work as a street trader and/or sell scrap
  metal?

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Answers (1)

• Buy a pet? 12
• Give evidence in a court of law? At any age if
  the court considers you old enough to understand
  the proceedings.
• Be in part-time employment? 13
• Hold your own passport? All British citizens must
  now hold their own passport from birth.
• Own a shotgun or airgun? 14
• Sit on a jury? 18
• answers continue on next slide

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Answers (2)

• 7. Be given a custodial sentence if convicted of
  a crime? 10
• 8. Drink beer or wine with a meal in a licensed
  restaurant? 5, but at the licensees discretion.
• 9. Emigrate without your parents? 17
• 10. Consent to medical or dental treatment? 16
• 11. Have a legal right to be heard? At any age.
• 12. Work as a street trader and/or sell scrap
  metal? 16

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Is childhood better or worse now?

• Some sociologists (and others) argue that
  childhood is now much better than it was in the
  past. These ideas are often referred to as the
  march of progress theories.
• Against these ideas are those which see childhood
  as worse in many ways than it was in previous
  years. Some of these ideas have been criticised
  as showing a romanticised view of childhood in
  the past.
• Lets look at the points that have been made in
  support of each side.

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Childhood as better now

• Those arguing that childhood is better now point
  to the following
• the fall in the infant mortality rate and
  improvements in child healthcare
• various pieces of legislation which have removed
  children from full-time work at an early age, and
  offered young people protection when at work
• the gradual extension of the period in which
  children are in full-time education
• the development of legal rights for children
• the growth of specialist services for both
  children and parents to help to ensure the
  wellbeing of children
• the development of specialist toys and literature
  considered age-appropriate
• legislation to protect children from things which
  would be harmful to them, e.g. drugs, abusive
  adults, exposure to material considered
  inappropriate

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Childhood as worse now

• Those arguing that childhood is worse now point
  to the following
• the rise of obesity and health problems among
  many children
• increased rates of depression and mental health
  problems, particularly among adolescents
• increased pressures on children and young people
  to succeed, especially in education
• the damage inflicted on many children by the
  break-up of their family
• the psychological and physical abuse inflicted on
  many children, often by members of their family,
  which in some cases has led to their death
• the blurring of the lines between children and
  adults, leading to the loss of innocence

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Study tips

• There are some important texts on the sociology
  of childhood, and you should familiarise yourself
  with these using your textbooks, class notes and
  an internet search using reputable sites.
• Some useful names are provided in the next few
  slides, but remember that there are others, and
  also that these notes give only the very briefest
  of summaries. You must do further work yourself
  if you want to do your best in examinations.
• Remember too that it is important, unless a
  question specifically restricts you to a
  discussion of the UK, to show awareness that the
  position of children varies enormously around the
  world. Other societies and cultures have very
  different ideas of what it means to be a child.

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Philippe Ariès (1960)

• Ariès was a French amateur historian known to
  sociologists for his view that the notion of
  childhood as a separate state is relatively
  new. He said that the modern view of the family
  as a private domestic circle founded on mutual
  affection did not emerge until the seventeenth
  century.
• He looked at depictions of children in medieval
  society, and one of his most-quoted statements is
  In medieval society the idea of childhood did
  not exist. However, our reading of his text is
  usually a translation from the original French,
  and Cunningham (1960) points out that the French
  word translated as idea is sentiment, which
  can also mean feeling. Cunningham suggests that
  Ariès meant that in medieval times childhood was
  not recognised and valued as a distinct phase.

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Lloyd de Mause (1982)

• De Mause is another so-called march of progress
  theorist. One of his often-quoted sayings is
  The history of childhood is a nightmare from
  which we have only just 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, terrorized
  and sexually abused.
• De Mause suggested that the ill-treatment of
  children in a society led to adults who were
  war-like and aggressive. He controversially wrote
  that it was the attitudes towards, and the harsh
  treatment of, children in German society in the
  early twentieth century that allowed Nazism to
  develop. He said that childhood brutality led to
  adults who had to re-inflict their childhood
  cruelties onto scapegoats in this case, the
  Jews.

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Neil Postman (1982)

• In his book The Disappearance of Childhood,
  Postman suggests that the dividing line between
  childhood and adulthood is beginning to
  disappear. He believes that both the origin of
  childhood and the reasons for its decline lie in
  changes in communications technology
• Before the invention of the printing press, when
  all traditions and the passing on of culture were
  oral, there was no sharp distinction between
  adults and children, and childhood ended around
  the age of 7, when children had mastered speech.
• With the printed word, literacy became the great
  divide, with adulthood dependent on being
  literate and/or mastering the habits of mind it
  promoted. Adults could now control the
  information passed to children.
• continued on next slide

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Neil Postman (1982), continued

• This monopoly and control by adults began to
  crumble with the advent of electronic
  information, particularly when television was
  introduced directly into the home. Television,
  argues Postman, is a visual medium which requires
  no training to understand and which can be viewed
  by all. Children are exposed to all aspects of
  the adult world.
• Postmans ideas could be developed further with
  the increase in other forms of communication,
  including social media and internet sites.

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Sue Palmer (2006)

• Sue Palmer is a former head teacher and literacy
  expert who is well-known for her book Toxic
  Childhood How the modern world is damaging our
  children and what we can do about it. She looks
  at a range of problems affecting children e.g.
  obesity, ADHD, bad behaviour, depression, autism
  and sleep deprivation.
• She claims that while new technologies are
  benefiting adults, changes in adult lifestyles
  have affected the way children are looked after,
  both at home and at school. Childrens
  experiences are being polluted, leading to
  toxic childhood syndrome. She writes Every
  year children become more distractible, impulsive
  and self-obsessed less able to learn, to enjoy
  life, to thrive socially.'
• You can watch a short video of Sue Palmer talking
  about her ideas here www.youtube.com/watch?vZjvU
  LWAXzFk

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Child labour

• While child labour in Western societies has been
  progressively curtailed and regulated, in many
  other parts of the world children are part of the
  labour force legally or illegally.
• The International Labour Organisation (ILO)
  defines child labour as work that deprives
  children of their childhood, their potential and
  their dignity, and that is harmful to physical
  and mental development. The ILO estimates that
  around the world around 215 million children
  under 18 work, many full-time and many in
  hazardous occupations.
• UNICEF estimates that around 150 million children
  aged 514 in developing countries (about 16 of
  all children in this age group) are involved in
  child labour (UNICEF 2011 State of the Worlds
  Children).

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Child soldiers

• It is estimated there are 250,000 child soldiers
  in the world, 40 of them girls.
• The largest number are in Africa (Central African
  Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo,
  Somalia, Sudan).
• The effects on the children are long-lasting.
  Many become desensitised to violence, and they
  can be psychologically damaged for life. Most
  have missed out on school and have very poor
  future prospects.
• In June 2013 the United Nations set a goal of
  having no child soldiers anywhere in the world by
  2016.
• Source War Child (a charity) see more at
  http//tinyurl.com/pp736xo

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Closing points

• This has been a very brief look at some
  sociological aspects of childhood. You should
  note that
• Childhood is a social construct it means
  different things at different times, in different
  places and to different groups.
• There is disagreement regarding whether, in
  Western societies in general and the UK in
  particular, the experience of childhood has got
  better or worse remember that these are
  evaluative terms.
• As with any social group, there are considerable
  differences both within and between different
  social and ethnic groups.
• In some parts of the world, children who in the
  West would still have many years of education in
  front of them are engaged in often heavy and
  dangerous work or are being used as soldiers.