Childhood Flashcards
(14 cards)
Experience of Childhood (Improved?): Laws Promote Happy, Carefree Childhoods (1)
- Laws and policies regulate what children can and cannot do
- Age of consent, education/training until 18, age restrictions on films
- Sociologists take a march of progress view -> restrictions in place to protect children, improve their experience of childhood, shelter children from the adult world (drugs, financial concerns, sex)
- Ariès - no children’s laws in pre-industrial society, mini-adults, punished for crimes in the same way as adults
- Today, children are seen as vulnerable, should not do the same things as adults (full-time work, 18+ films), laws shelter children from the adult world
AO3 (2) - Laws Control Children’s Lives
Experience of Childhood (Improved?): Laws Control Children’s Lives (2)
- Child Liberationists – argue that laws restrict what children can and cannot do
- Form of social control over children, maintains age patriarchy
- Laws justify adult control over children’s lives
- Education/training until 18 – laws against working full time mean any access to money or resources is under the control of adults (pocket money)
AO3 (1) - Laws Promote Happy, Carefree Childhoods
Experience of Childhood (Improved?): Safeguarding Laws to Protect Children (3)
- Children seen as vulnerable, in need of protection
- Safeguarding laws keep children separate from the adult world
- Children Act 2004 – people who work with children have a duty to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm
- NSPCC – PANTS, keep children safe from sexual abuse
AO3 (4) - Child Abuse
Experience of Childhood (Improved?): Child Abuse (4)
- 1 in 5 children experience some form of abuse (emotional, physical, sexual or witnessing abuse at home) by the age of 16
- Online child abuse – more common during the coronavirus lockdown when many children spent more time on the internet , vulnerable to online abusers
- Child Liberationists – argue this highlights the inequalities between children and adults, shows how adults dominate and oppress children’s lives
AO3 (3) - Safeguarding Laws to Protect Children
Experience of Childhood (Improved?): Children’s Rights (5)
- The UNCRC introduced children’s rights (1989)
- Right to play, right to adequate standards of living
- Helped make parent-child relationships more democratic, children’s views and opinions matter (discuss big decisions with their children, choice of secondary school, moving house)
- March of progress sociologists agree that children’s rights have improved experiences of childhood
- Past – children were seen not heard
- Present – children given a voice
AO3 (6) - Child Poverty (breaches children’s rights to an adequate standard of living)
Experience of Childhood (Improved?): Child Poverty (6)
- Over 4 million children are in poverty and depend on food banks
- Marxists argue that social class inequalities result in children from poor, WC families having negative experiences of childhood
- Suffer from material deprivation – unable to afford new toys, days out etc.
- Financial stress – parents have less time to spend with children (play/read with them)
AO3 – laws in place (Pupil Premium – schools receive this for students from low-income families, used to fund their places on school trips)
Experience of Childhood (Improved?): Products and Services for Children (7)
- Have separate clothes, play areas, toys, TV shows and food (kids’ menu)
- March of progress sociologists would argue these indicate an improvement in childhood
- Past - children viewed as economic assets during industrialisation (worked to support their families)
- Today - children are economic burdens, want their families to buy them toys and pay for leisure activities
AO3 – Marxists are critical, commercialisation of childhood only benefits the RC, children use their ‘pester power’ to get what they want, RC benefit as their products are being bought and they make a profit
Experience of Childhood (Improved?): Gender-Based Inequalities
- Girls tend to be subject to higher levels of social control and heavily supervised (tracking apps, strict curfews)
- Boys given more freedom, allowed to be out after dark
- Feminists – based on gender stereotypes where girls are more vulnerable and in need of protection compared to boys
- Girls and boys socialised differently (toys, instrumental and expressive roles), conforms to harmful gender stereotypes (boys grow up to believe that the home is the woman’s domain, limits the career aspirations of girls)
AO3 – growing number of parents raising their children as gender neutral, may reduce gender inequalities in experiences of childhood, avoid gender stereotypes, focus on developing the child’s personal identity
Child-Centred Society (List)
- Introduction of new laws
- Products and services specifically for children
- Children are seen as innocent and vulnerable
- Introduction of Children’s Rights
Child-Centred Society (1/5): Introduction of New Laws
- Laws regulate what children can and cannot do, they are seen as vulnerable
- Age restrictions for films, education/training until 18
Child-Centred Society (2/5): Products and Services Specifically for Children
- Children have separate clothing, toys, books, TV programmes (CBeebies) and food to adults (Happy Meals)
- Keeps childhood separate from adulthood
Child-Centred Society (3/5): Children are Seen as Innocent and Vulnerable
- Safeguarding laws - Children Act 2004
- Anyone who works with children has a duty to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm
- PANTOSAURAS
Child-Centred Society (4/5): Introduction of Children’s Rights
- 1989, UNCRC introduced children’s rights
- Right to an adequate standard of living, the right to play etc.
- Adults have a responsibility to protect children
Child-Centred Society (5/5): Smaller Family Size
- Declining fertility rates have led to a reduction in family sizes
- This means parents can spend more time, money and emotion into the children that they do have
- Fewer children has made families more child-centred as families revolve around the children e.g. family holidays focus on children and fun things they can do (water park, theme park)
