Childhood Disappearing

There is little evidence of what it was really like in the past so it is difficult for a lot of people to re-construct the life of a child, however from what I have researched, and in my own opinion I am going to summarise the historical changes in childhood experience and relate these changes to childhood development and rights.

Childhood is a social construct that has been weaved together by societal norms and domineering perspectives. Childhood is not a physical or mental state but an abstraction that has been melded by society as time has progressed. In Karen Sanchez-Eppler’s excerpt titled “Childhood” from the novel Keywords for Children’s Literature, she explains how the attitudes and atmosphere surrounding childhood have vastly changed throughout history to yield the general, modern conception of childhood. Children have been deemed adults in the Middle Ages and childhood has been a vaguely regarded concept. However, as society has become more progressive and developed, an interest in distinguishing the young from the older individuals

Different discourses of childhood have different ideas of childhood which has different implications on the way in which children are treated. Within the social constructionist theory there are 3 main discourses - romantic, puritan and tabula rasa. This essay will look

Modern-day, stresses and nerves – and, it ought to be said, an open-air world which truly is less youngster amicable than ever before – has prompted a hazard opposed a culture that discovers expression in oppressive well-being and security arrangements which neglect to measure the advantages of a given movement against the dangers included. Suppliers of kids' play areas, in a similar manner as numerous open administrations, are in dread in case of even minor scratches. So they progressively blunder in favour of alert, putting intensely in effect retaining surfaces and gear that thoroughly meets well-being gauges yet regularly needs genuine play value.Free and unstructured play in the outside lifts critical thinking abilities, centre and self-restraint. Socially, it enhances participation, adaptability, and mindfulness. Enthusiastic advantages incorporate diminished animosity and expanded happiness.Children will be more quick-witted, better ready to coexist with others, more beneficial and more joyful when they have normal open doors for nothing and unstructured play in the out-of-entryways. In a current study a third of kids believed that there was a leaf that can soothe a nettle sting; as per the review, more than seventy-percent of the youngsters that participated in the research have never climbed a tree. Abominable! Ask anybody more than forty to relate to you their most loved recollections of adolescence play, and few will be inside. Less still will include a grown-up.

One of the main features of childhood studies is the idea that childhood is socially constructed. This means that not all childhoods are the same and that it may differ depending on the time in which it is taking place, as well as the social environment or the place that it is taking place. This can be seen at the Museum of Childhood, and how different times have shown changes in the way children act, play, dress, or ultimately are treated in society. Additionally it draws on key differences in the human societies affecting different childhoods in any given period or place, and can examine how the childhood in that given period is constructed. Furthermore a social constructionist looks at the consequences of any given factor and the impact it has on children.

The concept of childhood, is not a natural state, but it has been socially constructed through society and can only exist in a society that understand the term this has been reinforced through history. Another issue is how much of ‘childhood’ has been socially constructed (created and

Some sociologists such as Postman (1994) argue that childhood is ‘disappearing at a dazzling speed’ as he says by giving children the

Discuss the ideology underpinning policy and practice for children and young people and demonstrate an awareness of constructs of childhood and adolescence from either an educational or care perspective.

Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence and its non-specific for it can imply a varying range of years in human development reference. The age ranges anywhere from 12 years to 15years with 18years being most common. Previous research done by sociologists focused on children primarily in terms of socialization and within the context of the family. The ‘new sociology of childhood’ argues that children inhabit more than one world, worlds that may well conflict those of adults, those of children 's own making, and those that children

According to Alan Richardson, childhood gained a central position through Romantic Literature, due to its artistic and reinvigorating movement during the eighteenth century. The supreme faculty of mind is reason by stressing strong emotions and imagination, which is the key reason to the shaping of creative power. Childhood acquired a sense of spirituality attached to its phenomenon; it became increasingly valued by adults, since children represented hope and progress within society. Childhood therefore became the supreme symbol of celebrating the cult of nature, the purity of the mind

Social constructionism gives meaning to phenomenon in social context and connections between culture and society build up realities in their circumstances. The studies of this idea have been conducted more than thirty years by a number of North American, British and continental writers (Burr, 1995). However, in childhood studies this notion appears later on. It is mostly held universally, childhood is a stage that biologically existing in human life in early years. It should be considered this childhood is constructed in the society. As a social being, it brings into the mind the relationship between society and child, inevitably. However, the dominant understanding of childhood attributes biological and social

Many answers demonstrated a significant amount of sociological knowledge, but failed to take note of the wording of the question, and therefore were unable to apply the knowledge appropriately. For example, many students ignored the reference to ‘today’ and instead launched into a lengthy account of the nature of childhood in the Middle Ages, and subsequently struggled to focus on the 6 of 8 question. Other students were able to discuss the way in which childhood was socially constructed and the changing nature of childhood, without explicitly discussing whether childhood today is being lost. More focused answers tended to use Postman and Palmer to suggest that childhood was being lost, contrasting these with the views of Opie and Pilcher that childhood remains distinct. Many made reference to the mass media without necessarily tying it to the specifics of the question; similarly, others referred to the commercialisation of childhood without linking this explicitly to the question. Many students compared various cross-cultural models of childhood, and in some cases contrasted these with the experience of childhood in modern industrial societies. Relatively few students were able to differentiate between stages of childhood, or address gender or class differences. Overall only a minority of answers retained their focus on the issue of whether childhood is being lost in society today.

"Play that is initiated and directed by children and that bubbles up from within the child rather than being imposed by adults is disappearing from our landscape of childhood. There are many reasons for this, such as long hours spent in front of a TV, fear of "stranger danger" when outside." (Exchange Every Day, 2009)

“For young children, there is no distinction between play and learning; they are one and the same. Playing is a priority in early childhood, yet not all play is the same” (Butler, 2008, p. 1). Since the beginning of mankind children have imitated adults and learned to survive through play. Evidence of this includes toys and board games from 6,000 years ago that have been found in Egypt and Asia (Dollinger, 2000). In the last two centuries, child’s play has been observed and studied by theorists and recognized as an important tool for adult life. Three theorists that studied children and spent their lives researching how children develop were Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. These theorists agreed that from the time a child is

'In children 's literature the notion and construct of 'childhood ' became an influential force...it became associated with freedom...and play; focusing on educating children malleablly. '