#9547 - Changing Images Of Childhood - Children & Youth Markets

Childhood By Ten

• The term childhood is generally recognised as a socially constructed phenomenon (Arthur, 2005).

• Childhood has been variously described as:

  • The period of birth to 6 or 7.

  • When the child can articulate clearly.

  • Birth to when the child can reproduce.

  • Birth to when the child can work.

  • Birth to when the child can live independently of parents.

• According to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989) childhood spans from birth to age 18. Yet the age of consent, the voting age, the driving age and the drinking age all vary with location and culture. Invariably the voices of the children themselves do not come into consideration when these life transition points are decided.

• Historically there are three dominant images of the child:

  • The innocent child.

  • The evil child.

  • The miniature adult.

• However, these images alone do not cover the varying ways that children and childhood are constructed by adult society. Other ways of constructing childhood include

  • The noble child.

  • The snowballing child.

  • The out of control child.

  • The adult in training child.

  • The child as commodity.

  • The child as victim.

  • The agentic child.

The Innocent Child

• Childhood as an innocent pure time of life separate to adulthood is an image that has been present since the late middle ages.

• In the early childhood classroom, this construct is visible in practices of censorship or sheltering children from the real world.

• The books, videos and fames we choose for children are often sanitised to present some aspects of life whilst excluding others.

• The construct of childhood innocence comes at a price. It positions children as incompetent, vulnerable and dependent.

• While a need to protect children from harm is a very real concern in these violent times, it is a concern that protection is becoming surveillance and control and children are not being given rights or opportunities to act on their own behalf (Dockett, 1998).

The Noble Child

• Like the innocent child the noble child is good, but in this case also has the capacity to take on adult responsibility to the extent of saving others from terrible fates.

• This is the child who must make sacrifices for the good of others.

• In early childhood classrooms, where children are often perceived as innocent and incapable, the noble child may appear more in fiction than reality.

• Superhero play can empower children, as it gives them a way to express frustrations and anxieties and come to term with the good and bad in their lives.

The Evil Child

• In prehistoric and early Christian times, with the perception that children were evidence of their parent’s intimacy, the image of the evil child arose.

• Children were thought to be born evil and in need of severe beatings to get rid of that evil so they could become mature responsible adults.

• The child as evil is an underlying construct in reactive discipline policies and restrictive class or school rules.

• Some behaviour is rewarded whilst others are discouraged or even punished.

• These adult initiated rules seek to restrict children as their bad influence is thought to affect their peers.

The Snowballing Child

• When adult control slowly wanes, the snowballing child comes into their own. This child is not necessarily evil but seems to be the one in control in the adult-child relationship, with temper tantrums a common response to not getting their own way.

• This situation may often arise as a result of family conditions in the 21^st century. Many parents will be working when the children returns home from school in the afternoon and in return for a lack of attention parents may give into the wants.

• These children may be seen as spoilt brats, surrounded by many things but still dissatisfied.

The Out Of Control Child

• While the snowballing child is still manageable to some extent through bribery, and the evil child can be bought into line through disciplinary approaches, the out of control child can often leave adults helpless.

• These children often resort to violence or self-destruction to get people to do what they want.

• The out of control child has no place in a sanitised environment of the early childhood classroom.

The Miniature Adult Child

• Here, children are depicted a the same as adults which childhood not considered to be a separate phase of life and neither child or adult having any real power.

The Adult In Training Child

• This implies that childhood is merely a practice for adulthood, a time when adult skills and attitudes are being developed.

• Developmental theories such as those of Piaget promote this image as children move up the ladder of competence until they...