Childhood

The modern western notion of childhood

In today's society childhood is seen as a special time in life with children being fundamentally different from adults, with what Pilcher notes as seperateness. They are regarded as physically and mentally immature so there is a belief that they need a lengthy protected period of nurturing before they are ready for adult society

This is emphasised in several ways through laws regulating what children can or can't do and through differences in dress, books, entertainment etc. Childhood is regarded as the golden age of happiness and innocence but this innocence means that children are seen as vulnerable so they live their lives largely in the private sphere protected by adults

However, Wagg says that childhood is socially contructed so while all humans go through the same stages of physical development, different cultures and times define childhood differently 

Cross-cultural differences in childhood

Benedict argues that children in simpler, non industrial societies are generally treated differently from their modern western counterparts in three ways:

• They take responsibility from an earlier age - Punch found in Bolivia once children reach 5 years old they are expected to take on work responsibilities
• Less value is placed on children showing obedience to adults - Firth found among the Tikopia doing as you are told is regarded as a concession to be granted to the child, not a right to be expected by the adult
• Children's sexual behaviour is viewed differently - In many island communities in the world adults took an attitude of tolerance towards children's sexual activities

The globalisation of western childhood

Some sociologists argue that western notions of childhood are being globalised. International humanitarian agencies have exported and imposed on the rest of the world western notions of what childhood should be. This includes it being a seperate life stage based in the nuclear family and school and where children are innocent and vulnerable

For example, campaigns against child labour reflect western views about how childhood ought to be, whereas in fact such activity by children may be the norm for the culture and what they regard as preparing for adult life. In this view, western style childhood is spreading across the world but many argue that such campaigns have little impact on the position of childhood

Historical differences in childhood

Many sociologists argue that childhood as we understand it today is a relatively recent concept. Aries argues that in the Middle Ages the idea of childhood did not exist. Children were not seen as having different needs from adults so childhood as a seperate life stage was short. Children soon entered wider society by beginning work from an early age so were in effect mini adults with the same rights, duties and skills. For example, children often faced the same severe punishments in crime

As evidence for this view Aries uses artwork from the period with children appearing without any distinction from adults, just the fact that they are smaller. They are all dressed in the same clothing and work together

Personal attitudes towards children also differed as Shorter argues that high death rates encouraged indifference and neglect. It was not uncommon for adults to forget the names of children and refer to them as 'it'

According to Aries, elements of the modern motion of childhood began to emerge from the 13th century onwards:

• Schools came to specialise purely in education of the young. This reflected the influence of the church which saw children as fragile creatures of God
• There was a growing distinction between children and adult clothing as by the 17th century an upper class boy would be dressed in an outfit reserved for his own age group
• By the 18th century handbooks on childrearing were available showing growing child centredness

These developments culminate in the modern cult of childhood where by the 20th century it was the century of the child

However, Pollock criticises him and says it is more correct to say that in the Middle Ages society simply had a different notion of childhood from today's

Reasons for changes in the position of children

• Laws restricting child labour - Children have gone from being economic assets who could earn a wage to being an economic liability who are dependent
• The introduction of compulsory schooling in 1880 - This particularly had an effect on the poor
• Child welfare legislation - The 1889 Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act enforced the idea that children are innocent
• Declining family size and lower infant mortality rates - These have encouraged parents to become more child centred
• Laws and policies that apply specifically to children - Laws such as minimum ages for a wide range of activities such as sex and entertainment reinforce the idea that children are different from adults
• Industrialisation - Modern industry needs an educated workforce requires compulsory schooling and the higher standards of living reduce infant mortality rates

The disappearance of childhood

Postman argues that childhood is disappearing at a dazzling speed. He points to the trends towards giving children the same rights as adults, the growing similarity of adult and children clothing etc. In his view, the disappearance of childhood lies in the fall of print culture and its replacement by television culture

During the Middle Ages most people were illiterate and speech was the only skill needed so children were able to enter society from an early age. Postman argues that childhood emerged as a seperate status along with mass literacy because the printed word creates an information hierarchy which is a sharp division between adults who can read and children who cannot

This gave adults the power to keep knowledge about sex, money, death etc from children so these things became mysteries to them and childhood became associated with innocence

However, television blurs the distinction between childhood and adulthood by destroying the information hierarchy. Unlike the printed word, TV does not require literacy to access it so the boundary between adult and child is broken down with the innocence of children being replaced by knowledge and cynicism

• However, Opie argues that childhood is not disappearing through her research of games, rhymes and songs over the years
• He over emphasises a single cause, television, at the expense of other factors that have influenced the development of childhood

Childhood in postmodernity

Jenks does not believe that childhood is disapperaring but he does believe it is changing. He agrees that childhood was a creation of modern society through the need to prepare to become a productive adult in the future so children were nurtured and controlled

He says childhood is again changing as society moves into postmodernity. Adults' relationships are much more unstable as divorce is more common. Children become more important to adults' identity as you will always be the parent of your child so relationships with children become adults' last refuge to constant uncertainty. As a result they become even more protective with more surveillance and regulation of children's lives

• However, his evidence comes from small, unrepresentative studies and he is guilty of over generalising as not all children live in diverse family settings

The march of progress view

Over the past few centuries the position of children in western societies has been steadily improving from a dark age where children were 'abandoned, beaten, terrorised and abused'. They argue that today's children are more valued, better cared for as children today are protected by laws against child abuse whilst the government also spends huge sums on education. Better healthcare means babies have a much higher chance of survival - in 1900 the infant mortality rate was 154 but today it is 4

Higher living standards and smaller family sizes also mean that parents can afford to provide for the children's needs properly so the family has become child centred. Children are now the focal point of the family with parents investing a great deal of money and emotion in order to give them a better life

However, against the view that the position of childhood has improved some suggest that children in the UK today are experiencing what Palmer calls a toxic childhood. Rapid technological and cultural changes in the past 25 years have damaged children's development. These changes range from junk food with McDonald's targeting the Happy Meal especially to children, computer games and the growing emphasis on testing in education

This is evident as UK children have one of the highest rates of obesity in Europe with 1 in 5 Year 6's being classed as obese. There are now also high rates of self harm, drug and alcohol abuse and violence

The conflict view

Conflict sociologists argue that the march of progress view of modern childhood is based on false and idealised images which ignore inequalities. They criticise it on two inequalities, one between children and one between children and adults:

Inequalities among children

Not all children share the same experiences as children of different nationalities are likely to experience different notions of childhood. There are also gender differences between children as Hillman notes that boys are more likely to be allowed to go out after dark unaccompanied. Ethnic differences are also prevalent as Asian parents are more likely to be strict towards their daughters. Class inequalities can include that children born into poorer families are more likely to fall behind in school and be placed on the child protection register

Inequalities between children and adults

They argue that many of the things that march of progress writers see as care and protection are in fact just new forms of oppression. For example, protection from paid work is not a benefit to children but a way of forcibly making children more dependent on adults than previously

Adult control over children can take the exteme form of physical neglect or abuse. Childline receives 20,000 calls a year from children saying they are being abused and cases have become more reported with incidents such as Baby P

Children's movements are also highly regulated with children being told to play in certain areas and not in others. Fears about road safety and stranger danger mean more children are not allowed to walk home alone, only 25% of primary school children did in 2010. This control contrasts with many developing countries as children often freely roam around

Adults exercise enormous controls over children's bodies with what they wear and it is taken for granted that they may be touched through washing and dressing. Adults also control children's time telling them when to get up, go out, sleep etc

In industrial societies children remain economically dependent on adults as child benefit goes to the parent and even pocket money might be restricted with what they can spend it on contrasting with the economic role of children in developing countries

Gittens uses the term age patriarchy to describe inequalities. She argues that there is an age patriarchy of adult domination and child dependency with the family originally being the power of the male over everyone. Children often resist the status and restrictions of being a child by acting up by acting like adults through smoking, swearing etc. However, critics argue that adult control is justified because children are unable to make rational decisions

The new sociology of childhood

There is a danger of seeing children as merely passive objects who have no part in making their own childhoods when we see childhood as socially constructed. This risks seeing children from an adultist viewpoint where they are merely socialisation projects for adults to develop

The new sociology of childhood approach instead sees children as active agents who play a major part in creating their own childhoods. We need to include the views and experiences of children themselves while they are living through childhood, such as documentaries like Child of Our Time which shows the changes in childhood through the children's own eyes

Studies like these use informal research methods like unstructured interviews which allow children to express their own views and enable sociologists to explore the diverse childhoods that exist in a single society