How Do Children's Agency Affect The Social Life Of A Child?

In exploring childhood, the topic of children’s agency has been a subject of interest for years. Agency can be defined as “the capacity to make choices, and to impose those choices on the world” (McNamee, 2016, p. 33). In large, it is the extent in which individuals can act independently. According to Seymour (2015) as cited by McNamee (2016) describes a difference between children as actors (an individual who participates in social life) and children as agents (whose participation makes an active difference in social life). Agency is influenced largely by structure and vice versa. Structure can be defined by the Dictionary of Sociology (Scott, p. 737) as ‘a term referring to any recurring pattern of social behaviour; or, more specifically,

This is demonstrated by the fact that they have family relationships, show attachment to others, and express emotions such as jealousy and delight (James, 2009). Children certainly do exercise agency to a certain extent, which can be demonstrated by the plethora of social intervention and ideological control methods placed upon children. If they were passive beings, then it is clear to say that these methods would not need to exist (McNamee, 2016). There are studies of children exercising agency within the education system, which supports the view that children have control over their choices. In a study by Lanas and Corbett (2011) as cited by Leonard (2016), ‘students constantly assume agency which challenges social structures. They talk loudly at inappropriate times, wear hats in class, challenge the teachers, argue and refuse to do homework.’ In regards to the family, it is suggested that although both parents and children exercise agency in their relationship, it is obvious that the parent has the most power. For example, parents use phrases such as ‘because I say so’ to exert control over a situation. Although a child’s opinion may be considered, the adult ultimately decides the outcome, questioning the extent to children’s agency (Leonard,