Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
How technology is affecting young children
How technology is affecting young children
How technology is affecting young children
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: How technology is affecting young children
Children are presented in a variety of different ways within society which has been a constant motif within in public debate. This continuation is due to a range of contributing factors that all inherent similar themes, of how a child audience is depicted and defined within the media. Societal reflectivity has historically illustrated children as being unable to psychologically translate information, thus restricting them from certain technological information that has been reserved for an ‘adult audience’. Through this restriction children were presented within a framework that limited them from being able actively partake in media consumption. However, due to the interchangeable nature of society, children within a modern context are presented …show more content…
Historically children have been viewed as being non-participants within society, which has been reflected through media consumption and exposure. Childhood has been a central idea presented habitually within debate due to its reflective and dynamic definition. This multifaceted theme has aliened childhood to having a close association with societal change that is reinforced by technological advancement. Historian Martin Hoyles theorises a similar explanation stating that childhood in a societal framework is a social convention and not just a natural state. This subject is represented within any historical/modern viewpoint in relation to the definition of childhood. Hoyles underlines his theory by stating that childhood is “constantly evolving in accordance to a range of cultural conditions,” (Brooks 2008:16). This perspective draws attention to an argument that places children, as a mirror to society. Neil postman inherits a similar stance in ‘The Disappearance of Childhood,’ as he describes the construction of childhood is a …show more content…
In relation to the use and regulation of media content children have experienced a series of societal shifts that have impacted on the constriction of childhood itself. Within a historic context children have been painted as not being able to psychologically translate the sophisticated construction of old media and therefore were labelled as being non-participants within the consumption of content. The dynamic definition of childhood, changed this view as Walt Disney, saw a gap in the market that divided children. The creation of this tailored market, reflected a modernised view of children and echoed underlying themes of innocence. Children due to this societal change, moved from being non-participants to active participants within the consumption and exposure to media related content. Programming was created to help protect the image of children in this technological advancement impacting on this new-found exposure. Due to these factors the social construction of childhood is a multifaceted term that reflects societal
Centuries of Childhood is a social history of family life (1960) that is a history of childhood written by Philippe Aries’s. It is about controversial claim that childhood, as a concept ,was not “discovered” until well after the middle ages. While Child Act 2011( Act 611) is an example that is repealed the Juvenile Courts Act 1947( Act 90) the Women and Girls Protection Act 1973(Act 106) and the Child Protection Act 1991(Act 468). Act 611 preamble provides that every child is entitled to protection and assistance in all circumtances without regard to distinction of any kind , such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, social origin or physical mental or emotional disabilities. Aries is an archivist for the Institute of Applied Research
Maybin, J. &Woodhead, M. (2003). Childhoods in context. Southern Gate, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd
In today’s world of multimedia it has become extremely hard to avoid the introduction of adult themes to younger children, who lack the maturity to process and question the information. Young people are bombarded continually with unsuitable and undesirable concepts that give false images of acceptable behavior. Music, movies, television, internet and video games are accredited with the moral deterioration of present day youth. Great strides have been made to establish rating guidelines, parental controls and warning labels that assist adults in making informed choices on what their children should or should not be able to access but they are not perfect.
Views on childhood have and still continue to change (Waller, 2009). The contemporary view that children are empty vessels (Skinner, 1974) is being disregarded as children are no longer perceived as passive recipients in an adult world (O’Kane, 2008...
Also in China girls are made to bind there feet up at an early age so
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...
According to Philippe Aris a famous sociologist who studied childhood saw it as a social and historical construction (Montgomery 2009) he believed childhood did not really exist until the sixtieth century before that children had been treated as small and inadequate adults (Penn 2008). Sociologist Rinaldi also believed that it is society and different times in history that created childhood (Neaum 2010) Mayall believes children lives are lived through childhoods constructed for them by adults understanding of children and what children are and should be (Kehily 2009) a sociologist who has a different idea would be James and Prout 1990 who believe childhood is both ...
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.
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.
In what ways can childhood and youth be understood as social constructions? Illustrate your answer with relevant examples.
I believe my concept of childhood was, in large part, formed by the way I was raised. My older sister and I were raised by a single mother in a small town in country Victoria. My mother is a socialist and feminist and I think that these beliefs informed her decisions on how to treat her children, choosing to treat us as capable individuals and allowing us to make, or at least have input into making, decisions about our bodies, our activities outside of school, and our lives in general. When reflecting on how I see children and childhood, I believe that my view of children as capable, confident, and independent, and my belief that childhood should be fun and free is due to the environment I grew up in.
A media panic, or often referred to as a moral panic, is a term that describes how the media is formulating issues amongst our society. Over time, our culture has shifted and caused many conclusions regarding media panics and the relationship between youth and the media culture. Based upon previous knowledge and course readings, I have drawn a very disturbing conclusion; this being that no matter what age, children are willing or non-willingly now under surveillance to determine what kind of role media is playing in their lives. With what I have gathered from the readings and class lectures, most authors strongly believe that different forms of media directly influence children's thinking or perception. What authors and researchers continue to imply is that there is a direct correlation to what youth today see in different forms of media and their behaviours.
When you are focusing on the structural perspective of something you are mainly examining the role they play in society and how they are looked at by society. In this instance, childhood and children are the trending topic but their image has changed over time. Childhood went from being a time that for the most part was used to prepare for adulthood to being a stage in life that is most important. Today in society children have a say so in what goes on and their lives affect the world daily. The structural perspective of childhood refers to the individual role children play in society. It looks at their personal experiences as children and their memories once adults. By looking at the role children play in society gives an outlook on how big
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.
A childhood is the delicate phase of every adolescent's life where they must mature into their own person, with their own responsibilities. Although every individual will eventually bloom with their own personality, morals, and perspectives, the education and values we learn and see along the way add to the fingers that mold. We begin when we are born, and are taken in by strangers. These priceless people show us love, and just how strong attachments can be. Family ties snare us in their loving webs and become the support network to catch us throughout our youthful falls. They are our first real pictures of people, and their actions and emotions immediately become examples.