Childhood Flashcards
(16 cards)
What does The International Labour Organisation say?
That 1 in 7 children in the world work
What does the UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund) say?
In 2014 found 1 in 10 girls around the world experience serious sexual violence and very high numbers of child murders each year.
What did Aries say?
That in medieval times, childhood did not exist as a seperate status. Children were seen as ‘little adults’ and were expected to take on adult job roles and responsibilities as soon as they were physically able to.
Children did not lead seperate lives
The notion that children deserved special protection and treatment did not exist.
The March of Progress and The Conflict View
What is the March of Progress View (Aries)?
Childhood has improved over time.
Pre industrialisation childhood was not seen as a separate part of life and children were expected to earn their way as soon as they were psychically able to - meant children started working at 7
What is the Conflict View (Aries)?
Childhood has gotten worse or has remained negative
What is child-centredness?
Children are more likely to be centrally important in the family with parents taking more of an interest in their welfare and activities
What are the reasons of more child-centredness?
- Families have gotten smaller, so more individual care and attention
- Childrens legal rights/laws
- Parents work less hours in the week
- Higher wages and higher standards of living
- Compulsory education from 5
- Parental fears of ‘stranger danger’, so parents are more worried to leave their child alone
- Specific childhood consumer market
What are some laws protecting young people from adult life?
- getting married (16 with parental consent, otherwise 18)
- driving a car (17)
- voting (18)
- having sex (age of consent is 16)
- buying some goods; alcohol, cigarettes, tobacco, lottery tickets, knives (18)
What are the types of child abuse?
- Sexual abuse
- Physical abuse
- Emotional abuse
- Neglect
What did a 2011 Report from the NSPCC say?
Found that around 1 in 5 children had been severely maltreated during childhood, with most of the ill-treatment committed by a guardian.
What did Postman say?
Childhood is disappearing.
The distinctive stage between adults and children is disappearing and merging.
The media, internet and TV mean that children are no longer sheltedred from adult experiences and knowledge, including sex, pornography, crime, alcohol and drug abuse and violence
What does Cunningham say?
Argues that parental authority has been undermined by children having money from parents of paid work
What does Silva say?
Suggests that the roles of parents may be diminishing in face of the growing importance of peers, teachers and other influences that children are exposed to through media such as films, TV, internet including chat rooms and porn sites.
What does Jenks say?
Postman criticism
- argues that Postman underestimates the controls still in place of children and that childhood is still well defined but that there is a loss of innocence regarding children, e.g. James Bulger case
What does Margo say?
Over the past 50 years, the average age of first time sex fell from 20 for men, 21 for women in 1950s to 16 for both by the mid 1990s.
There is a concern over the sexualisation of childhood and rush to have sex, that retailers encourage children to dress and act in a sexually promiscuous way.
What do some sociologists argue childhood is ?
A social construction - being a child is taking on a particular social role
