Essay - Childhood PDF

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Why might we think that childhood is ‘socially constructed’?...

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Polly De’Ath Why might we think that childhood is ‘socially constructed’? A social construct refers to a concept or phenomenon that society itself has created and developed over time. Different societies construct things differently depending on certain aspects their particular society possesses, for example, values, attitudes and norms. Childhood is considered by many a social construct this is because childhood can be explained as ‘a social category that emerges from the attitudes, beliefs, and values of particular societies at particular points in time’ (Hays, 1996). This suggest that childhood is not simply a biological state and there is more depth to it than physical appearance and capability. However, many people argue that childhood is not socially constructed and it is in fact just a naturally existing period of time defined by biology, a time that society has no hand in constructing. In order to understand the concept of childhood we must look at how different societies have constructed it, we must look into each aspect of construction analytically. In this essay I will be underlining the ways in which different societies construct childhood in terms of geographical location, culture, religion, time period and history and critically assessing these ideas. I will also be looking at counter arguments that suggest childhood is not a social construct.

It can be argued that childhood is socially constructed in relation to history, childhood is shown to be ‘rooted in the past and reshaped by the present’ (James and Prout, 2003, p.229), the way childhood was viewed in the past is extremely different to how childhood is viewed in contemporary society and how it may be viewed in the future. The definition of childhood is always changing due to the societal circumstances surrounding it. A simple way of showing this is the way in which childhood is now considered a ‘sacred’ part of life, a part which looking back on creates feelings of happiness and nostalgia, this was not always the case and in Victorian times childhood was merged with adulthood therefore didn’t stand out as a distinct phase of life. Play is distinguishable feature associated with being a child ‘play is also seen as a part of childhood in that it is a period of time where children are free from responsibilities’ (Wynes, 2012, p.11). Aries supports this and argues that childhood in the Middle Ages was a period that passed very quickly but was also forgotten quickly whereas now childhood is a sacred part of life that is remembered and looked back on nostalgically. He suggested that children were simply reduced, smaller version of adults with little

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Polly De’Ath significance and less emotional loading to their parents, this was shown in the way they were less effected by the death or illness of their child. However, he does recognise a change in perception from the 17th century onwards.

Childhood has changed historically in many aspects however the perhaps most significant way is child labour. Again during the Victorian era childhood wasn’t viewed as a separate sphere from adulthood and children were exposed to hardships and experiences now associated with adulthood, this is evident in the novels written by Charles Dickens for example Oliver twist ‘He stands committed for three months—hard labour of course’ (Dickens, 1837, p.118). This novel was written during the Victorian period suggesting that during this time children were expected to work hard during their childhood, particularly if they were of low economic status or in the case of Oliver an orphan. Those we read Dickens however were more likely to be middle class and educated therefore were unable to associate with the novels as they would have experienced a childhood similar to the ‘ideal’ today. Children had the same economic responsibilities as adults and were expected to go to work, although these ideas were conveyed in many of Dickens novels he opposed them and hoped for a childhood like the one experienced today, in modern day, western societies. The Victorian ideas of childhood apparent in his novels have lessened around a large percentage of the globe as childhood is now associated with innocence, dependence and freedom.

Another way childhood is said to be socially constructed is in terms of geography. Childhood is constructed differently depending on the geographical location of the child, different countries, towns and even villages bring up their children in different ways. Children living in perceived poorer areas of the world will have an extremely different childhood to children brought up in an affluent area of a country, the notion of childhood may not even be apparent to the particular culture. Things that we associate with childhood are not available to all for example health care and education, this suggests that not all children live the western ‘ideal’ childhood. Education is seen as an ideal aspect of childhood ‘one of the eight Millennium development goals (MDGs) is to ensure that all children attend school and complete a full course of primary education (Wells, 2015, p.92). This implies that education is seen as an idea and should occur universally. Education plays a huge role in constructing childhood as it allows children to learn the required skills and knowledge for adulthood, 2

Polly De’Ath socializes them to be able to deal with everyday encounters and teaches them their society’s norms and values. Society gives conditions for its institutions which influence societal change, this is another reason as to why education is important in constructing childhood, simply, it changes the way childhood is viewed for the better. This ideal however is not apparent in all countries and many children lack education ‘In Ethiopia, about 2 million children were not in school in 2009’ (uis.unesco.org) this shows that a lot needs to be done in order for all children to live a ‘childhood’. Although education brings with is many positives, it also creates some problems. Maitra and Ray (2002) argue that schooling fails to reduce the workload as many children have to go to school and work. Also the education children in poorer countries receive is poorly resourced with teachers that are not adequately qualified.

Cultures around the world place many different meanings on to childhood, we must look at childhood from a cross-cultural perspective, which enables us to see the variety of childhood’s that exist, ensuring that we do not criticise people’s lives and understandings of the world whose differ from our own. We must look at childhood with an open mind as what we associate with childhood other cultures would not even consider. A culture I am choosing to focus on is the Aztec culture which existed between the 12th and 15th century during the Spanish invasion and included the people of the allied Mexican and American states. I am choosing to study the this group because of the significant differences the children in this culture undergo in comparison with more widely spread ‘typical’ cultures e.g. white, middle class Christians. The Aztec children were treated very differently to children of other cultures, Aztec children were forced to grow up very quickly this is evident from when the child is just an infant where they were presented with adult garments ‘By the time they had passed through the Izcalli ritual, children were wearing the garments of adulthood’ (Joyce, 2000, p.479). The Izcalli ritual occurs every four years meaning the oldest a child can be the first time they undergo the ritual is five, this suggests that at the mere age of five children were expected to act and behave like adults. During this stage children would start to work with their parents, boys fishing and carving and girls cooking and weaving. This shows that childhood is socially constructed depending on the culture a child is brought up in. This account supports the claims of previously mentioned Aries who suggested that childhood did not exist in the West until the 17th century after the Aztecs ‘Childhood, Aries argues, is a 3

Polly De’Ath relatively new concept that emerged around the seventeenth century, concomitant with such developments as decrease in infant mortality, changes in European educational system and increasing class stratification’ (Ulanowicz, NA, p.1).

Religion also supports the idea that childhood is merely a social construct. Religious allegiance can have an impact on how individuals experience childhood in many ways. Hindu children experience childhood differently due to the extremely close family relations ‘children experience their family as a large, cohesive whole’ and spend a ‘great deal of time socialising with kin’ (Jackson and Nesbitt, 1993, p. 43) this suggests that children spend less time socialising with non-family members so are unable to interact as effectively as other religions. This qualifies the meaning of childhood as socialisation is a significant part of being a child as children learn how to interact on a daily basis with members of many different cultures, genders and ethnicities. Another reason as to why Hindu children experience childhood differently is due to the gender distinctions they experience from a young age ‘men socialise with other males, women with their female acquaintances’ (Jackson and Nesbitt, 1993, p.45). In a Hindu household male and female children socialise in different rooms with older men and women. However, this view is criticised as society is becoming more secularized suggesting that children of different religions are becoming more influenced by western society and their religion plays a smaller part in how they experience childhood.

Many who say that childhood is socially constructed fail to take into account the many universal characteristics that childhood possesses, that exist regardless of culture, time period or religion: ‘all children, by virtue of their immaturity, have similar needs and limitations. Infants are dependent on others for the physical care: for food, shelter, hygiene and safety’ (Wells, 2009, p.2). All children are vulnerable and in some cases depend on an adult for their survival, for instance an abandoned baby no matter where they were from in the world would not survive very long on their own as they can’t meet their own needs e.g. feeding themselves. As well as physical needs all children need emotional stability from adults, children need to form emotional bonds in order to learn from parents, this is evident cross culturally not just in certain cultures. Although it is not just children who require emotional bonds they require a strong attachment more than adults do. Children also need 4

Polly De’Ath to be taught how to fit in with their culture, although all cultures are different they all require children to be socialised into them, whether it be teaching children rituals or something trivial like when to go to bed.

We regularly consider childhood as a natural stage of life which everyone must pass through in order to become an adult. Wyness says that ‘Children are limited by their biology’ (Wyness, 2015, p.19) they must pass through puberty and change biologically to become an adult an example of this is females starting their period. Childhood dependency on adults may also be categorised as a biological aspect, as their bodies don’t have the same capacity as adults to survive hardships they may face for example, if a young child Is hungry they are unable to feed themselves. The biological assumption strongly critiques the common-sense view of childhood.

We are familiar with the image of childhood, a time of play, innocence and lack of responsibility. This image however is based on a western model of childhood, I have used a range of analytical techniques to support this statement and to highlight that the experiences of childhood differ based on many aspects. As sociologists we need to be able to examine children’s biological and cultural features as interrelated assumptions of what it is to be a child. Biology is ascribed and fixed however social position is not allowing for changes in the experience of childhood. Over the past decade in particular social scientists have studied the topic of childhood in more depth than ever before leading to the conclusion that childhood is in fact a ‘social construct’. Social scientists are becoming more aware of that fact that different ethnicities and cultures etc. do recognise that childhood exists, it is just the way they construct childhood that is different. These differences stem from the expectations and values places on children based on the society that they live or lived in. There is not one said definition of childhood due to the fact what childhood means and entails is rapidly and vastly changing.

References: Hays, S. (1996) The cultural contradictions of motherhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood. New Haven: Yale University Press.

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Polly De’Ath James, A & Prout, A (2003). Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood. Second edition. London: Routledge. Wyness M. (2012) Childhood and Society. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Dickens, C (1837) Oliver Twist. London: Richard Bentley. Wells, K. (2009) Childhood in a Global Perspective. Cambridge: Polity Press. UNESCO Institute for Statistics (NA) OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN: NEW DATA REVEAL PERSISTENT CHALLENGES [Online]. Available at: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Pages/out-of-school-children-data-release.aspx (Accessed 5th March 2015). Joyce, A, R. (2000) World Archaeology, Girling the Girl and Boying the Boy: The Production of Adulthood in Ancient Mesoamerica. Vol 31, page 479. [Online]. Available at: http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.derby.ac.uk/stable/125113?seq=7#page_scan_tab_contents (Accessed 27th Debruary 2015). Ulanowicz, A (University of Pittsburgh) Phillippe Aries [Online]. Available at: http://www.representingchildhood.pitt.edu/pdf/aries.pdf. (Accessed 14th March 2015). Jackson, R & Nesbitt, E. (1993) Hindu Children in Britain. Staffordshire: Trentham Books Limited, Wyness, M (2015) Childhood Cambridge: Polity Press

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