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Attempting to Pin Down a Definition of Childhood Essay

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The term ‘Childhood’ has always be hard to define as it will vary from each person, every person would have experienced a childhood but how they define theirs is a different story. ‘Childhood is the time for children to be in school and at play, to grow strong and confident with the love and encouragement of their family and an extended community of caring adults.’(UNICEF, 2005). From a psychological view childhood would be defined as the space between birth and attainment of adulthood; but it is far more than that, it a special time where the child children are safe from violence, free from fear, protected from exploitation and abuse and free to explore the treasures of life. In the UK there is no official age when you are no longer a…show more content…
When asked, many celebrities (sports figures, actors, musicians) state that they don't want to be role models.’(Cohen, E 2005;384)Aristotle would potentially argue that is was not a choice a person can make. As celebrities they are so prominent in society they have no choice but to be a role model and take the responsibilities seriously.
Banduras work on social learning shown that much of learning that occurs during development is acquired through observation and imitation. ‘Behaviour is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning’ (1977), ‘Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways.’(1961). When this topic is brought to light many of us would agree that children learn best from role models and choose to imitate the behaviour they desire. In today society there are enough negative role models for children to choose from. Both adolescents and children copy the appearances and actions of those in movies, music videos, videos and television. However, today’s society especially the media are not modelling pro-social behaviour or promoting family values. Many parents fear to think of their child imitating actions from a ‘negative role model’.
Whether the daughter or son acknowledges it or not, parents are one of the child’s biggest role models and hold the more influence over decision making and what happens in their life. From when the child is born to when they leave home, some of their parents
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