The Nature of Childhood Essay Sample free essay sample

Childhood is a societal building as it is something created by society. instead than merely a biological phase. PRE-INDUSTRIAL Society:Philippe Aries is a societal historiographer who suggests that ‘childhood’ is a modern innovation and he claims that in pre-industrial society. childhood did non be and kids were known as ‘little adults’ who carried out the same work and play activities as grownups. There were no such things as kid’s toys etc. Rams argues that kids were merely seen as an ‘economic asset’ instead than a symbol of love for another. This is said to hold been hard when the decease rate of kids was so high. Other historiographers have agreed with Aries. stating that the pre-industrial household was a unit of production. working the land or being engaged in trades. Children were expected to assist parents from a immature age and if they didn’t aid with domestic production. We will write a custom essay sample on The Nature of Childhood Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page they normally left place to go retainers or learners. CHILDHOOD AND INDUSTRIALIZATION: Even after industrialisation these attitudes continued and particularly during the working category where kids were normally found working in mills. mines and Millss. Rams argued that at this point. in-between category attitudes towards kids began to alter as there was a growing in matrimonial and parental love. This was because the infant mortality rate began to fall. The center of the nineteenth century is when societal attitudes truly began to alter. This is when candidates were concerned about juvenile delinquency. mendicants and child harlotry and wanted to acquire kids of the streets. Children were excluded from mills. Millss and mines. where antecedently 1000s had been killed. Some working category households nevertheless resisted these motions because they depended on their children’s rewards. Cunningham states that the nineteenth century saw the societal building of childhood by grownups. This childhood had three major classs: It was the antonym of childhood- kids wer e seen to be in demand of protection. to hold the right NOT to work and to be dependent on grownups. The universe of grownups and the universe of kids were to be kept separate- the place and school were regarded as the ideal topographic point for kids and they were frequently banned from topographic points like the saloon etc. Children were seen to hold the right to happiness Even though these alterations were being made. there was still grounds that suggested kids were being treated severely and child harlotry and maltreatment was still a common characteristic in most metropoliss. and it was non until the twentieth century that the age of sexual consent was raised to 16. Childhood IN THE twentieth CENTURY: With the twentieth century came the outgrowth of the ‘child centred society’ which was most likely the consequence of improved criterions of life and nutrition in the late nineteenth century which led to a major diminution in the infant mortality rate. The higher criterion of life besides meant that kids besides became more expensive. The increased handiness and efficiency of contraceptive method allowed people to take to hold fewer kids which meant that parents were able to put more. in the few kids that they had in footings of love. socialization and protection. CHILDREN AND THE STATE: Concern over kids can besides be seen within the greater provinces involvement in protecting immature lives. The province supervises children’s socialisation through compulsory instruction which is for 11 old ages. The function of societal services and societal workers is to patrol those households who may be thought to be at hazard. The authorities besides take economic duty of kids by giving child benefits and children’s revenue enhancements to parents. The children’s 2004 Act ‘every kid matters’ . which focuses on the well-being of kids and immature people. organize birth. up until the age of 19. This fundamentally stresses better results for kids. such as being healthy. remaining safe and accomplishing economic well being. In 2007. the authorities set up the first section with the word ‘child’ in it. and this was the section for kids. schools and households to guarantee that all kids and immature people: Stay healthy and safe Secure an first-class instruction and the highest possible criterions of achievement Enjoy their childhoodMake a positive part to society and the economic systemHave lives full of chance. free from the effects of poorness Children have now come to be seen as people with rights. The child support act even trades with the attention. conveying up and protection of kids. This act protects children’s public assistance in the event of parent separation and divorce. which emphasises that at all clip. the child’s good being is the chief precedence. THEORETICAL APPROACHESTO CHILDHOOD: The conventional approach-Functionalists have what is called a ‘conventional’ attack to childhood. This is seeing kids as a vulnerable person that is under menace from the grownup society. yet besides need protection from it. The conventional attack believe that successful childrearing requires two parents of the opposite sex and that there is ever a right manner to convey up a kid. Such positions tend to fault working or individual female parents for societal jobs such as delinquency etc. And they besides believe that kids need protection from homophiles and media force as these are classified as ‘threats’ . Postman. for illustration sees that childhood is under menace because of the exposure from the grownup universe. Melanie Philips is besides rather typical when it comes to the conventional attack to childhood. She argues that the civilization of rearing in the UK has been broken down and the artlessness of childhood has been undermined by two tendencies : The construct of parenting has been distorted by broad thoughts which have given excessively many rights and powers to kids. Philips besides argues that kids should be socialized into regard towards parental authorization and she argues that kids now undermine this procedure and are penalised for puting countenances etc. Philips besides believes that the media and equal groups have become more influential than parents and that magazines aimed at immature misss. dad music and picture games are a turning job because they encourage immature misss to see themselves as sexual existences from a immature age. They were thought to hold Numberss similar to nomadic Numberss like 07741526963 which would assist the. get clients etc These tendencies mean that the period of childhood has been shortened and do non last for more than 13-14 old ages. She complains that maturity intrudes upon the experiences of kids a great trade earlier than in the yesteryear and kids do non hold the emotional adulthood to get by with the rights and picks that they have today. She believes that this consequences in societal jobs like self- destruction. eating upsets. ego injury and drug or intoxicant maltreatment. Palmer argues that there are many benefits for grownups when it comes to being in a wealthier society as there is more engineering to enrich their lives. But these same engineerings can be harmful for kids because parents use these as an option to traditional parental practises and parents are merely excessively happy use the telecasting. electronic games and debris nutrient to maintain the childs quiet. This is how kids are deprived of the traditional childhood and household life. Another tendency that has caused dismay within many sociologists is the rise every bit kids as consumers. It is estimated that kids between the ages of 7 and 11 are deserving around ?20 million a twelvemonth. For this ground advertizers have aimed and targeted towards kids. in order to promote ‘pester power’ – the power of kids to develop or pull strings their parents to pass money on consumer goods that can increase the child’s position in the eyes of their equals etc. There are three chief sociological concerns: Observers normally refer back to a aureate age when it comes to childhood and how their childhood was so much less pressurized and complex and that the displacement into a more consumer orientated society has resulted in kids pull stringsing their parents in respects to consumer goods but this can be a benefit to parents who are ‘cash rich but clip poor’ as they can relieve their guilt by purchasing their kids whatever consumer goods they desire. Pugh. suggests that parents who spend on their kids are populating by ‘consumption as compensation’ Evans and Chandler discovered that equal force per unit area was a major portion of a Childs desires on consumer goods etc. And the kids in their surveies were ever cognizant of what label of apparels they were have oning and what would be accepted by their equals and besides they were cognizant that there was a possibility of badgering or strong-arming if they didn’t peculiarly fit in or ain certain points of vesture or goods and they found that parents and kids with poorer households had this added force per unit area. Other observers claim that children’s selling is frequently ‘anti adult’ and that advertisement to kids is frequently suggesting messages like ‘rebellion is cool’ and they argue that this undermines parental authorization and contributes to an addition in antisocial behavior among kids and adolescents. An alternate view- The conventional attack is sometimes criticized by sociologists who hold different positions. Functionalists and new right statements assume that kids are fundamentally merely empty vass and household life is presented as a one manner procedure where parenting and socialisation purpose is to transform kids into good citizens. But this position tends to disregard the fact that kids have their ain single positions when it comes to the reading of household life and that this is what leads to their behavior with their parents. So in other words the relationship between a parent and kid is a two manner procedure which can act upon the nature and quality of the household life. Morrow found that kids can be active and constructive subscribers to household and life. and his survey showed that they did non desire to do determinations for themselves but merely wanted a say in what happened to them. Conventional attacks are besides criticized because they put kids and childhood together. but it ’s clear that this is a unsafe move as we saw earlier that childhood is non something that is fixed or se. and it can depend on things like the historical period. vicinity. civilization. gender etc. And these things have a major impact on the facet of ‘childhood’ .