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Has technology changed the childhood experience
Effects of globalization on culture and social values
Effects of globalization on culture and social values
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This paper will critically discuss the ‘disappearance of childhood’ debate which centres on electronic media and consider why such a debate has come into existence. This essay will critically discuss both sides of the debate that is the disappearance proponents and those who are more optimistic about the effects of technology on the lives of children. In response to both arguments, I will propose that there is a new concept of childhood which has evolved throughout history; this concept is one of changing childhoods for a whole variety of reasons. It is noteworthy that these arguments are developed from American and European opinions and do not necessarily reflect the experience of children internationally. There are proponents of the …show more content…
This I would argue has been as a result of how society has changed and the greater concerns to not only protect children but to give them more ‘rights’. Buckingham (2000) proposes that in the last two to three decades childhood has changed in two ways firstly, it is more institutionalized, privatised and with greater surveillance; secondly, the boundaries between adults and children are eroding with children becoming empowered as a result. As society has changed, so there has been influence from the children themselves in what I would argue is as a result of a differing relationship between adults and children. To explain, since the 1950s a surge of parenting theories have developed for example Dr Spock and John Bowlby. As such I argue that they have influenced parenting for some who have adopted a more responsive and democratic style whereby children’s views are taken into account. In sum, I propose that childhood has not disappeared, rather as a result of complex historical and societal factors has …show more content…
However, contemporary children have longer school years and days, compared to the 1950’s child partly as a result of women working but also due to engagement in extra-curricular and after school clubs. Thus, the autonomy the contemporary child enjoys in the access to more information, technology and television can be offset by greater adult control in organised activities such as playing, sport and other leisure
Aries argues Childhood is a relatively new concept that emerged around the seventeenth century, concomitant with such developments as a decrease in infant mortality, changes in the European educational system, increasing class stratification, and a gradual withdrawal of the family from a wider web of social relation. In a controversial claim, Aries argument regarding the “discovery” of childhood in seventeenth century in much debated point which is “in medieval society the idea of childhood did not exist”(Aries, 125). This claim has been both enthusiastically adopted and categorically dismissed by scholar from various disciplines. Hugh Cunningham points out that the English translation of Aries’s text uses the term “idea” where Aries himself uses the term “sentiment” which carries two meaning: “the sense of a feeling about childhood as well as a concept of it” (Cunningham 30).
James, Jenks and Prout (1998) argue that childhood is characterised by sets of cultural values whereby the ‘…western childhood has become a period of social dependency, asexuality, and the obligation to be happy, with children having the right to protection and training but not to social or personal autonomy’ (James, Jenks and Prouts 1998 pg. 62). Here, childhood is described in sets of distinguished features and these features imply that the concept childhood may vary from place, culture and time. Therefore suggesting that there is no fixed or universal experience of childhood, for example, childhood in the medieval UK will be extremely different to the childhood in modern UK and therefore it varies over time, place and culture. Since the definition and state of childhood may vary depending on our cultural and historical background, some sociologist claim that childhood is not just biological, but must have been socially constructed for a specific society needs at a particular time. In this essay, I will attempt to explore ways in which childhood is said to be socially constructed by looking at historical childhood and how it has led to construction of modern childhood in the modern society. I will also explore the agency of children as competent social actors able to construct their social world.
It seems that there are always new and improved devices being released to the public for entertainment and assistance. However, Louv sees that children should not be so reliant on touch screens and portable gaming; they take away from what should be a lively and interactive childhood. Last Child in the Woods reveals the problems with separating children from nature. Louv lengthens simple descriptions, poses rhetorical questions, and provides vivid imagery to help the reader connect with his own beliefs. His goal is to help stop the never-ending stream of media from taking away carefree and simple childhoods from the younger
Turkle argues that technology has fundamentally changed how people view themselves and their lives (271). She reports that, “BlackBerry users describe that sense of encroachment of the device on their time. One says, ‘I don’t have enough time alone with my mind’; another, ‘I artificially make time to think…’” (274). Her point is that people have to make a deliberate choice to disconnect, to exist in their own mind rather than the virtual world (Turkle 274). Another point Turkle brings up is that in this technologic age children are not learning to be self- reliant. Without having the experience of being truly alone and making their own decisions, children are not developing the skills they once did (Turkle 274). As Turkle reports, “There used to be a moment in the life of an urban child, usually between 12 and 14, when there was a first time to navigate the city alone. It was a rite of passage that communicated, ‘you are on your own and responsible.
republished in 1994) was the examination of the loss of the idea of childhood following the
The dictionary definition of a child is a young human being, an immature person and offspring (Oxford, 1976). This idea is reflected in Mead’s statement ‘that children to adults are representative of something weak and helpless in need of protection, supervision, training, models, skills, beliefs and ‘character’’ (Montgomery et al, 2003, p vii). The emphasis is on the concept of the child by adults rather than the size or mentality raising the notion that a child, and therefore childhood, is not just a biological concept but also an ideological one (Falconer, 2009). This ideology makes an oxymoron of Children’s Literature according to Rose (Hunt, 2009a) as adults write, publish and purchase books with each set of adults having their own ideas about childh...
Cunningham, H. (2003) ‘Children’s changing lives from 1800 to 2000’. In Maybin, J. Woodhead, M. (eds.) Childhoods in Context, Chichester: John Wiley and Sons Ltd. in association with the Open University, pp 81- 128
While all societies acknowledge that children are different from adults, how they are different, changes, both generationally and across cultures. “The essence of childhood studies is that childhood is a social and cultural phenomenon” (James, 1998). Evident that there are in fact multiple childhoods, a unifying theme of childhood studies is that childhood is a social construction and aims to explore the major implications on future outcomes and adulthood. Recognizing childhood as a social construction guides exploration through themes to a better understanding of multiple childhoods, particularly differences influencing individual perception and experience of childhood. Childhood is socially constructed according to parenting style by parents’ ability to create a secure parent-child relationship, embrace love in attitudes towards the child through acceptance in a prepared environment, fostering healthy development which results in evidence based, major impacts on the experience of childhood as well as for the child’s resiliency and ability to overcome any adversity in the environment to reach positive future outcomes and succeed.
As capitalism runs its course and develops new technologies, society is left to pick up the pieces and figure out where these new technologies will lead them. Ever since I learned to use the Internet as a child, I have become accustomed to seeing more and more fascinating technology developments that have changed the way I communicated as the years went by. Now that the Internet has infiltrated more aspects of human life, it has become necessary to reflect on how this critical juncture will continue to affect our society. In Digital Disconnect, Robert McChesney provides an analysis of the arguments that the celebrants and skeptics used to express their views of the Internet. McChesney then moves past these arguments to explain how the PEC plays a key role in determining the direction that the Internet is heading towards. By assessing McChesney’s views, I hope to develop my own interpretation of the Internet’s impact on society.
Children in their adolescents years watch a great amount of TV each week and it is almost inevitable that they will start to be influenced by what they see on their television. They will see diffe...
... different concept and hostility is a common environment. Bringing children to life in this era is far much more complicated than what it used to be, and parenting has become an exhausting and tough job. Being a parent in this time means having to be EXTRA-careful with what your child is exposed to these days, means taking the time to explain and correct them from all the wrong concepts of values they have learned from TV. It is in our hand to change this world for the better, we have to raise our voices and fight against the media and all these things they are causing in our children. The hostility of our world not only affects children, because adults are affected too, but our children are the men and women of tomorrow, and for that we have the responsibility to guide them, to teach them, and to make their learning and development environment as safe as it can be.
First of all in order to understand what happened with the childhood nowadays, I’d like to view some historical examples. In the 1920th a new type of state was created. That was the USSR, founded on the ground of the former Russian Empire. It was the first “communist” state that defined itself as a brand new historical type of the society and a brand new type of human (Mickenberg, p.104). The soviet ideology was based on the idea that the behavior is mostly formed under the influence of the environment. That’s why in the USSR, government created a powerful propaganda in the different spheres, especially schooling. Schools were treated as a storehouse, used to put the necessary information in the children's' heads. In the USSR, people were strongly controlled by state...
As disclosed in the article, The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child, Chris Rowan acknowledges, “Rather than hugging, playing, rough housing, and conversing with children, parents are increasingly resorting to providing their children with more TV, video games, and the latest iPads and cell phone devices, creating a deep and irreversible chasm between parent and child” (par. 7). In the parent’s perspective, technology has become a substitute for a babysitter and is becoming more convenient little by little. It is necessary for a growing child to have multiple hours of play and exposure to the outside world each day. However, the number of kids who would rather spend their days inside watching tv, playing video games, or texting is drastically increasing. Children are not necessarily the ones to be blamed for their lack of interest in the world around them, but their parents for allowing their sons and daughters to indulge in their relationship with technology so powerfully. Kids today consider technology a necessity to life, because their parents opted for an easier way to keep their children entertained. Thus resulting in the younger generations believing that technology is a stipulation rather than a
Abstract In this essay, I intend to explain how everyday lives challenge the construction of childhood as a time of innocence. In the main part of my assignment, I will explain the idea of innocence, which started with Romantic discourse of childhood and how it shaped our view of childhood. I will also look at two contradictory ideas of childhood innocence and guilt in Blake’s poems and extract from Mayhew’s book. Next, I will compare the images of innocence in TV adverts and Barnardo’s posters. After that, I will look at the representation of childhood innocence in sexuality and criminality, and the roles the age and the gender play in portraying children as innocent or guilty. I will include some cross-cultural and contemporary descriptions on the key topics. At the end of my assignment, I will summarize the main points of the arguments.
Surveying the Digital Future: How the PC and Internet are changing the world. (1999, June). Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Communication Policy.