Aries believes that we now live in a child centred society due to these changes. Pollock however disagrees with Aries claiming that childhood has always existed. He supports his claim by having evidence he found in diaries written between the 16th and 20th century which show that children were treated as lesser and often exposed to emotional and physical
Others argue that the west is imposing its idea of childhood on the third world. “Aries describes a medieval world in which, if children were not actually the equals of adults, they nevertheless mixed freely with adults in both work and leisure” this was identified by item A. Item A suggests that industrialisation brought major changes to the position of children. This was suggested by Aries who said that the elements of the modern notion of childhood gradually began to emerge from the 13th century onwards; schools was one of them previously adults attended as well became to specialise purely in the education of the young. This reflected the influence of the church, which increasing saw children as fragile “creatures of God” in need of discipline and protection from worldly evils.
There are many sociological explanations for the changes in the status of childhood. One of the most known statuses of childhood is the ‘Western notion of childhood’ this is the idea that children in the western society are fundamentally different from adults and that there is still a need for constant protection and care from their parents and the government, as they are psychologically and physically immature. Childhood is seen to be a special time in a person’s life, in which they should cherish and enjoy, without being expected to undergo adult actions such as work, especially as children seemingly lack the important skills, knowledge, and basic experience that would be necessary to survive in the adult world. There is too much innocence and naiveté for them to be categorised as adults. It is believe that children need a long period of time of nurturing and socialisation before they are ready to enter the adult world, so they would need the appropriate amount of time to acquire knowledge and experience to enable the child to become an effective member of society.
As adolescence was seen as a separate stage to adulthood, the latter half of the nineteenth century saw a move to accommodate young people, both legislatively and physically, separately from adults in ‘recognition that young people’s needs were of a different order from those of adults’ (Youth in Context, page 185). Early forms of residential care such as industrial schools which were established to care for ‘neglected’ children and reform schools for adolescents, who had committed offences, relied
Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess sociological explanations of changes in the status of childhood The status of childhood has always been changing with time and in this day and age there are many views over the position of children, being confined, disciplined or controlled by the adult authority. Others say that they are growing up to fast and the distinction between the adults and children is overlapping. Some sociologists believe that childhood is socially constructed, that childhood is dependent on society’s cultures, beliefs and laws etc. An example for this theory is Stephen Wagg’s (1992), who believes a single ‘universal’ childhood, which everyone goes through, does not exist. He says that childhood isn’t natural or defined by biology.
Comparing the western idea of childhood today, to the western idea in the past and in other societies can see this. Today in our society childhood is defined as a special time of life and children have a fundamentally different status from adults. They are regarded as both physically and psychologically immature and they cannot yet be independent and responsible for their own lives. This is why there is a belief that children’s lack of skills, knowledge and experience means they need full-time protection and nurturing until they are ready for an adult society and its responsibilities. Jane Pilcher (1995) notes that separateness is the most important feature of the modern idea of childhood.
Can order objects according to several features Formal operational (11 years and over) Can think logically about abstract propositions and test hypotheses systematically Becomes concerned with hypothetical, the future and ideological ideas Today’s education curriculum uses the category stages but it is thought and evidence accumulated that this theory is too rigid as many children manage concrete operations earlier than Piaget thought and some never need use formal operations. Sigmund Freud - psychoanalytic
March of progress sociologists say that childhood has changed dramatically because children have become more valued, protected and educated. Due to the introduction of various laws, children have become more protected, cared for and treated differently to adults. However the conflict view argues that childhood has not improved because massive inequalities still exist e.g. children suffer under the control and oppression of adults which can often take extreme forms of physical, sexual or emotional abuse. In medieval times, childhood was very different to what it is today.
Sue Palmer is another sociologist that believes the increasing impact of technology and the media over the past 50 years is causing childhood to deteriorate. Palmer argues that in modern society there is a ‘toxic childhood’ due to an excessively screen-based culture which she feels is why there has been an increase in developmental conditions in children. She has reasons for some of these conditions, for example ADHD could be caused to screen saturation as the rapid changes of images on TV can make an immature brain go into overdrive resulting in the child seeing real life as boring. Palmer also believes the increase in screen-based activities has made it more difficult for children to develop literacy skills. Also Palmer
“Assess sociological explanations of changes in the status of childhood.” The status of childhood has always been changing with time and to this day and age there are many views over the position of children; being confined, disciplined or controlled by the adult authority and socialisation. Others say that they are growing up to fast and the distinction between the adults and children is becoming blurred. The position of children also differs over time. The modern west4ern idea of childhood is a relatively recent invention. An example of this theory is Aries (1960), where he studied paintings from medieval times.