Sociologists say that childhood socially constructed (which means that it is created and defined by society). They say that the position children have in society is not permanently fixed, it changes over time. This is obvious by looking at how childhood is seen in other cultures and the past. It is accepted in our society now that childhood should be a special time of life, children are seen as being different from adults so should be treated differently because they are physically and psychologically immature and are not able to be dependent. So they are seen to need a lengthy period of time where they are nurtured and socialised before they are seen as responsible adults in society.
As Jane Pilcher (1995) believes the most important feature of the modern idea of childhood is separateness. Childhood is seen as a clear and a distinct life stage, and children in our society occupy a separate status from adults taking in the account of how much time they would spend with the family, children in today’s modern society are more isolated from their parents and do not bond enough with them. This separateness is emphasised in many different ways, for example, there are laws which regulate what children can and can’t do for example laws restricting child labour, no smoking also law says that children have to
I think it is clear that young people are not deterred from bad behavior by just the fear of punishment. Kids know then a person's “bark is bigger than their bite.” At the same time,if a young person sees someone else get punished for problem behavior, this might deter them by proxy. The idea of general deterrence is that just one punishment is enough todeter other people if the situation is taken care of quickly enough. General deterrencerelies on the idea that, if young people believe that society both intends to punish criminalacts and that they are able to, they will be deterred from committing a crime by thesefactors and this awareness. One example of this is that more police officers can go onto the police force, so that the young person sees them everywhere and believes that they mightcatch them.
However, this innocence means that children are seen as vulnerable and in need of protection from dangers of the adult world. Children’s lives, as a result of this, are lived largely in the confinement of the family and education, where adults provide for them. Similarly, unlike adults, children mainly lead lives of leisure and play and cannot partake in paid work. Cultural differences have an impact on people’s views of childhood. Ruth Benedict argued that children from Less Economically Developed Countries and non-industrial societies are treated differently from modern, Western children: they take responsibility from a younger age.
In this article the author explains his points on childhood and the death of puritan children. The author uses different points from other people to explain his point. There are a lot of different things that shows us how the Puritan children had no childhood. For example, the children wore clothes similar to adults, and they were treated such as adults. Also, he points out that the parents were not allowed to get to close to the children, showing us that the children had no type of affection.
The youths that are being tried in the adult courts should be offered to better themselves as for they are not fully developed at the ages under eighteen. Punishing a teen by taking away their rights for life is not helping the betterment of society. Another person in prison means more local taxes for another set of clothing, more food, and occasionally, more space to be built. A psychologist could benefit from these children who caused trouble, especially if the trouble was un intentional. Juveniles have greater possibility than adults to make a change in their lives with the right help with counseling and rehabilitation.
The distinction between childhood and adulthood is ‘becoming blurred’ due to the ‘growing similarity of adult and children’s clothing and even to cases of children committing ‘adult’ crimes such as murder.’ The fact that adult and children’s clothing has great similarities conveys that children can no longer remain children and are merging into adulthood a lot sooner than their time, as a result of the fact they are not able to dress like children and dress their ages. Secondly the fact the children are committing ‘adult’ crimes such as murder means the mind-set of a children is changing a lot sooner and so their thoughts are now becoming that of an adults. Also when ‘adult’ crimes such as murder are committed, children still need to be trialled and sentenced through the legal system just like an adult would. Leading to there being no distinction between an adult and child, proving the distinction between adulthood and childhood is in fact ‘becoming blurred’. Neil Postman (1994) argues these points and states that the ‘disappearance, lies in the rise and fall print of culture and its replacement by television culture’.
This is more common in Europe and other areas of the western world were it is common to find children in further education. Childhood has been marked as completely different from adulthood, both in character, making everyday and life decisions and activity. This recognition clearly first appeared in literature in 16th century and has since then been adopted and improved by an array of individuals. The argument formulated then, that still holds today, is that childhood is an immature stage of life, characterized by underdevelopment t both mentally and physically. And it’s on this assumption and basis that every action
The criminal justice system has an obligation to protect children and young people from different causes of crime and assists in their rehabilitation from recidivism. The magistrate also deals the case with the justice model to promote ‘zero tolerance’ to offenders of any age in order to emphasise punishment and deterrence over rehabilitation. Nevertheless, the criminal justice system approach young offenders with the legal principal of ‘doli incapax’ because the juvenile justice system presumes that children are incapable of having a criminal intent thus children under the age of 10 cannot be held legally responsible for their actions and cannot be guilty of an offence. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most recent international law relating to children’s right. Article 41 (3) (a) encourages establishment in all countries’ laws of a minimum age below which
Special education was not always seen as an option and children with disabilities often suffered the fate of being forgotten members of society. Throughout history, children with different abilities gained rights to a fair education and treatment in society. Physical disabilities were wrongly viewed as limiting a person’s mental abilities. Laws were passed securing proper treatment and education for students with special needs. The Civil Rights movement is remembered most for racial equality, however, this era also sparked the accelerated progress for people with special needs as well.