Sociology Of Childhood

'Age divisions are socially constructed'. Explain and discuss this statement with reference to one of the following: childhood; youth; old age.

The idea of ageing is a biological process, however there is the argument that ‘age divisions’ are socially constructed because as society, we decide what it means to be a child, a youth or old. This allows there to be no genetic cultural meaning to the biological process of ageing, arguing that it is all “made up”. By looking at the history of childhood, what it means to be a “child” and evaluating how society is changing the meaning of “childhood”, we will be able to understand how and why society is changing the meanings behind these words.

The idea that childhood is “socially constructed” allows us to understand that

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