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Introduction to childhood as a modern construct
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Review on Centuries of Childhood
In Centuries of Childhood, Philippe Ariès focused on a specific aspect of childhood in history and discussed the ever-changing concept of childhood over time. Philippe Ariès examined notable ideas of childhood in historical times including medieval society, in the fourteenth century, and in seventeenth century to illustrate the transformation of the concept. Philippe Ariès believed the idea of childhood progressed from “did not exist” to “coddling” and “fragile creatures of God” (P 133). Philippe Ariès’s theory was straightforward and convincing to readers since he provided with significant supports such as historical documents, diaries, and books in the time period. Philippe Ariès started with a bold theory
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Ariès’ theory was quite recognizable by the readers since he illustrated the creation of the concept and historical conception change through examining art work, diaries, letters, and literature in each historical period. However, Philippe Ariès’ theory was acceptable in the overall level except for few issues in question. Firstly, Philippe Ariès focused on the changes in the educational system while potentially underestimated factors of major social, scientific, economic, and political changes from medical era to the seventeenth century. The western society had experienced significant changes in almost every aspects in hundreds of years. Secondly, Ariès’ examinations on the life in medieval society was largely built on depictions from Heroard’s diary and Ariès’ description on life in seventeenth century was depending on J.B de La Salle’s novel. These evidences were largely artworks and may potentially aimed to serve in other purposes. They were not as convincing as historical journals. Overall, Philippe Ariès’ Centuries of Childhood was a fascinating work which help readers study the history of the concept of Childhood and revoked readers to analyze the concept in more details and
In Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, Annette Lareau discussed the extensive amount of research she conducted employing observational and interview techniques. She collected data on the middle class, working class, and poor families. She was trying to understand the impact of a child’s early parental guidance on the child’s life. She was able to conduct this research with 12 families, all of whom had fourth graders. She gathered enough information to conclude the major differences in the parenting styles of each type of family, which was directly correlated to socioeconomic status. Annette Lareau opens her book with two chapters to give the reader an idea on what the examples she gives will detail.
The book Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life published in 2003, takes a close look into the lives of different families in the United States and how they are affected by race and social class and how their family lives differ. The Author, Annette Lareau, discusses how social class affects the parenting styles and how these parenting styles are affecting the children. Although Lareau’s book could use a few changes, it is well written and it is a good read to help better understand how social class and parenting styles can affect the lives of different children on a personal level. In
The various essays comprising Children in Colonial America look at different characteristics of childhood in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Children coming to the American colonies came from many different nations and through these essays, authors analyze children from every range of social class, race, and ability in order to present a broad picture of childhood in these times. While each essay deals with an individual topic pertaining to childhood, they all combine to provide a strong argument that children were extremely valued in society, were not tiny adults, and were active participants in society.
In this essay I will be discussing my concept of childhood and how it compares to my understanding of the theories and concepts of John Locke and John Wesley. I have chosen to look at these two theorists as although they lived in similar times their theories and concepts on children were influenced by very different factors and so differ greatly from each other and in most respects differ from my own concepts. My concept of childhood is influenced by personal experience and the views of my parent.
‘Some idea of a child or childhood motivates writers and determines both the form and content of what they write.’ -- Hunt The above statement is incomplete, as Hunt not only states that the writer has an idea of a child but in the concluding part, he states that the reader also has their own assumptions and perceptions of a child and childhood. Therefore, in order to consider Hunt’s statement, this essay will look at the different ideologies surrounding the concept of a child and childhood, the form and content in which writers inform the reader about their ideas of childhood concluding with what the selected set books state about childhood in particular gender. The set books used are Voices In The Park by Browne, Mortal Engines by Reeve and Little Women by Alcott to illustrate different formats, authorial craft and concepts about childhood. For clarity, the page numbers used in Voices In The Park are ordinal (1-30) starting at Voice 1.
Back in the twelfth century Philippe Aries argued that in Medieval times there was barely any place for childhood in sense that Medieval art lacked the portrayal of, or did not care to include, how children were raised, educated, clothed, etc. In support to his argument, Ariés stated “Yet, the miniaturist has grouped had grouped around Jesus what are obviously eight men, without any of the characteristics of childhood; they have simply been depicted on a smaller scale” (Ariés pg. 9). This quote states that children were sometimes depicted in these paintings yet, they were still absent from the illustrations. That is because children appeared as men with fully developed masculine features, but are reduced to a smaller scale than the
Childhood can be seen as a social status with multiple meanings and expectations attached to it without a clearly defined end or beginning (Montgomery 2009), This essay will introduce different sociological perspectives on what childhood is since childhood is not universal rather is it mobile and shifting this means children experience various childhoods there are local and global variations(Waller 2009), a Childs experience can be influenced by their gender, ethnicity, culture and social class which this essay will expand on. The essay will then move forward to focusing on childhood in local and global countries to investigate the differences they have among each other lastly the essay will go onto ways an professional can help acknowledge all children diversity and create an inclusive environment regardless of their differences (Penn 2008).inclusion provides support to all children so that their experiences in an educational; setting encourages them to be as involved and independent as possible as well as help them understand the differences among their class mates
Maybin, J. &Woodhead, M. (2003). Childhoods in context. Southern Gate, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Childhood is a powerful and important time for all humans. As a child, the things one sees and hears influences the choices and decisions they make in the future. “How a child develops during early and middle childhood years affects future cognitive, social, emotional, language, and physical development, which in turn influences their trust and confidence for later success in life” (Early and Middle Childhood). Yehuda Nir’s, The Lost Childhood is a first person memoir based on the life of a youthful Jewish child who survived the Holocaust. Taking place from pre-World War II 1939, to post-World War II 1945, this memoir highlights the despicable things done during one of the darkest times in modern history. Prior to being published in October
Somewhere around the beginning of the seventeenth century, the perception of the nature of childhood -- its duration, its perceived purpose, its requirements, its quality -- changed rather significantly in the Eurocentric world, a period Valerie Suransky identifies as a watershed for the modern notion of childhood (1982, p. 6). Actually, two things seemed to have happened: first, the idea of childhood as a separate developmental stage began to arise; second, the idea of who was deserving of childhood also began to broaden. The pattern was similar in Europe and America, with some minor variations which resulted from geography, religion, etc., but the differences are inconsequential. Generally speaking, the factors which influenced this change are the view of the nature of humankind, the development of industry, urbanization, parents themselves, and the women's movement.
Throughout history the concept of innocence in literature has been a topic in which author’s have held an obsession with. According to Harold Bloom, the loss of innocence has played a large role in western literature since the Enlightenment when man was said to be initially good and then corrupted only by his institutions. (Bloom 6) The institution in which Bloom speaks of is nothing more then society. Society is what is believed to be the cause for the loss of innocence in children. Bloom has stated that a return to the childhood mindset would eliminate the social problems in which people suffer. This is unerringly why the cause of many physiological problems can be traced back to a problem or unsettlement in one’s childhood. (Bloom 7) The history of innocence continues further back in history as it is said that the first encounter of loss of innocence or “original sin” was from Adam and Eve when they ate the fruit of the forbidden tree. (Bloom 7) These historical events and ideas are what influence the works of authors from the 19th century to modern day.
The text depicts a historical perspective on Middle Childhood, as during the twentieth century, children were viewed primarily as an economic source of income, in terms of providing for the family. According to the text this happens often in European counties and in parts of the United States. Elizabeth D. Hutchinson, Dimensions of Human Behavior The Changing Life Course 3rd, 2008. In this short review we will look at how this historical perspective in itself is not a question to how, but when these individual give.
Childhood is one of the first biological life cycles we encounter. The experience that we go through shape what we will become. Here in America, as we began to industrialize, we began to have a different view of what childhood should be than in other parts of the world. In Taiwan and in Indonesia athletic shoes are made by children who work in factories instead of going to school. About 215 million of the world’s children work typical long hours for low wages. People in America might find this disturbing because we think of childhood as the first 12 years of life a carefree time of learning and play. But according to historian Philippe Aries (1965) explains, the whole idea of childhood is fairly new. During the middle ages, children of 4 and
Childhood is a highly contested model because its meaning and interpretation varies from person to person as it is influenced by cultural-heritage, family-background and experiences (Alderson, 1995). For instance, the United Nations’ Convention on Rights of the Child (1989) defined children as everyone under the age of eighteen. Additionally, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (2005) postulated that the period of childhood is a special period during which a child should learn how to live and survive the world through schooling, playing, as they grow strong and develop their confidence with the affection and support fr...
Papalia, D. E., Olds, S. W., & Feldman, R. D. (2008). A Child's World: Infancy through Adolescence. (11th ed.). Asheville, NC: McGraw-Hill Primis.