Childhood

Childhood

Childhood is not simply a biological stage of life but a social construction — its meaning, duration, and experience vary across time and culture.

The Social Construction of Childhood

The idea that childhood is socially constructed means that what it means to be a child is defined by society, not nature.

Aries (1960) — Centuries of Childhood

Philippe Aries is the key thinker on the history of childhood:

• In medieval Europe, childhood as a separate stage did not exist — children were "mini-adults" who participated in the same work, play, and social life as adults from around age 7
• Medieval art depicts children in adult clothing with adult proportions — no special status
• Childhood emerged gradually from the 13th century onwards, driven by:
• The influence of the Church, which increasingly defined children as fragile, innocent beings in need of protection
• The growth of schools — separating children from adult life for education
• The development of the concept of childhood innocence in the 17th–18th centuries (Rousseau)

Evaluation of Aries

• Pollock (1983): argues Aries exaggerated — diaries and letters show medieval parents DID care about and distinguish children from adults
• Strength: Demonstrates that childhood is NOT a fixed biological category but changes historically
• Weakness: Based largely on analysis of paintings — a problematic source (art is stylised, not documentary)

Cross-Cultural Evidence

Evidence from other cultures supports the view that childhood is socially constructed:

• Punch (2001): studied children in rural Bolivia and found that by age 5, children were expected to contribute to household work and take on adult responsibilities
• Firth (1970): among the Tikopia of the Western Pacific, children were expected to undertake dangerous tasks (e.g., using sharp tools, going to sea) that Western societies would forbid
• Holmes (1974): Samoan children had far greater freedom and responsibility than Western children of the same age — no concept of childhood as a sheltered, protected period
• Wagg (1992): "childhood is socially constructed. It is, in other words, what members of particular societies, at particular times and in particular places, say it is"

The March of Progress View

The "march of progress" view argues that childhood has been steadily improving over the past centuries. Children today are more valued, protected, and cared for than at any point in history.

Key Arguments

• Children's legal rights have expanded enormously:
• 1880: compulsory education introduced
• 1889: Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act
• 1989: Children Act (child's welfare is paramount)
• 2004: Children Act (Every Child Matters)
• UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989): ratified by the UK in 1991
• Child labour has been abolished in Western societies
• Child-centred families: Aries argues the family has become "child-centred" — children are the focus of family life, with parents investing heavily in their education, health, and emotional development
• Higher living standards: better nutrition, healthcare, and sanitation have dramatically reduced infant mortality
• Specialist agencies: social services, child psychologists, paediatricians, and family courts protect children's welfare

Evaluation

• Strength: Material conditions for children have undeniably improved — infant mortality has fallen from over 150 per 1,000 in 1900 to under 4 per 1,000 today
• Weakness: Assumes all children benefit equally — ignores inequalities of class, gender, and ethnicity
• Weakness: Assumes Western childhood is the "best" model — ethnocentric

The Conflict View: Childhood as Control

Conflict sociologists argue that childhood is not a golden age of protection but a period of control, inequality, and potential harm.

Firestone (1979)

• A radical feminist who argued that the distinction between childhood and adulthood is a form of oppression
• "Protection" is really control — children are denied rights, autonomy, and independence
• The supposed "innocence" of childhood is an ideology that keeps children powerless and dependent

Gittins (2004) — Age Patriarchy

• Adults exercise power over children — "age patriarchy" parallels gender patriarchy
• Children have limited legal rights: they cannot vote, work, own property, or make many decisions about their own lives
• The family can be a site of abuse and exploitation rather than protection

Evidence of Continuing Harm

• Child poverty: 4.2 million children in the UK live in poverty (2023 figures)
• Child abuse: the NSPCC recorded over 60,000 child protection cases in 2022
• Unequal childhoods: Brannen (1994) found that Asian parents were more likely to be strict and restrict their daughters' freedom, while White parents gave greater independence — childhood experience varies by ethnicity and gender
• Hillman (1993): children's independent mobility (walking to school alone, playing outside unsupervised) has declined sharply since the 1970s — the "cotton wool" generation

Evaluation of the Conflict View

• Strength: Highlights real inequalities and the dark side of family life
• Weakness: Can romanticise a past where children had greater "freedom" — that freedom often meant exploitation and danger
• Weakness: Ignores the genuine improvements in children's rights and welfare

The Disappearance of Childhood

Postman (1994) — The Disappearance of Childhood

Neil Postman argued that childhood is disappearing:

• Childhood was created by the printing press (15th century): literacy separated the adult world (accessible through reading) from the child's world
• Television has destroyed this boundary by making all information (violence, sex, adult concerns) available to children
• Children now dress like adults, consume the same media, and are exposed to adult problems
• The boundary between childhood and adulthood is blurring

Evaluation of Postman

• Strength: Prescient about the impact of media — social media and the internet have accelerated the trends Postman identified
• Weakness: Overly pessimistic and nostalgic — children have always been exposed to adult realities (Aries shows this)
• Weakness: Palmer (2006) — the problem is not that childhood is disappearing but that it is being "toxic" — children are harmed by commercialisation, testing, junk food, and screen addiction
• Weakness: Ignores the way children actively interpret and resist media messages — they are not passive recipients

Jenks (2005)

• In modernity, childhood was controlled, disciplined, and future-oriented (the "Apollonian" child — innocent, needing protection)
• In late modernity/postmodernity, relationships between adults are less stable (rising divorce), so adults invest more emotionally in their children — the child becomes the last remaining primary relationship
• Parents become more protective and controlling ("helicopter parenting") precisely because other relationships feel insecure

The New Sociology of Childhood

Smart, Neale and Wade (2001): children should be seen as active agents in constructing their own childhoods, not passive objects of adult socialisation.

• Children negotiate, resist, and shape family life
• Their voices should be included in sociological research (participatory methods)

Summary Table

View	Key Thinker	Core Argument
Social construction	Aries (1960)	Childhood is a modern invention — did not exist in medieval times
March of progress	—	Childhood has steadily improved through legal rights and welfare
Conflict/feminist	Firestone, Gittins	Childhood is a period of control and inequality
Disappearance	Postman (1994)	Media is eroding the boundary between childhood and adulthood
Toxic childhood	Palmer (2006)	Commercialisation and technology are harming children

Exam Tip

The 10-mark "applying material" questions on childhood often ask you to use an Item plus your own knowledge. Read the Item carefully for the perspective it presents, then add a contrasting view with a named study. For 20-mark essays, structure around "march of progress" vs "conflict view" with Postman as a third strand.