Children and childhood
One way to
make sense of the huge range of images, beliefs and experiences associated with
children is to distinguish between the young people called ‘children’ and the
phase in their lives conventionally known as ‘childhood’. You may be able to
recall vividly features of your childhood with difficult as well as happy
moments. But childhood is not just about personal experiences. Childhood is an
important social category which defines children’s activities and experiences:
for example, in England they must receive education until they reach 16, but
they may not vote in elections until they are 18. ‘Childhood’ also defines
children’s role and status, and it is closely linked to beliefs about their needs,
rights, vulnerabilities and competencies. Children’s experiences of childhood
are not simply an expression of the fact that they are young, growing and
learning. Their childhood is shaped by the circumstances in which they grow up,
and by the beliefs and attitudes of those who influence them. This distinction between
children and childhood has been summed up by James and Prout:
The
immaturity of children is a biological fact but the ways in which that immaturity
is understood is a fact of culture ... childhood is ... constructed and
reconstructed both for and by children.
The final
phrase of this quotation contains two other important ideas about childhood.
Describing childhood as ‘constructed and reconstructed’ draws attention to its
variable and changing character. Childhood has been understood in very
different ways at different periods in Western history. Differences are marked
both within and between societies, for example according to children’s gender,
ethnicity or social and economic background. One illustration of the ‘constructed
and reconstructed’ status of childhood is seen in changes in law, as for
example when school-leaving ages in England were raised to 14 in 1918, to 15 in
1936 and to 16 in 1973. Meanwhile voting ages in England were lowered from 21
to 18 in 1970. Each of these changes generated debate about children’s needs and
capacities at various ages although the fact that children were considered capable
of voting earlier, but were required to stay on at school longer, suggests that
children’s needs and capacities were not the only considerations affecting these
changes in policy. In fact, legal definitions often appear inconsistent and are
frequently contested.
Describing
childhood as constructed both ‘for and by’ children raises the issue of
children’s own role in shaping their childhoods. Children’s experiences are powerfully
influenced by adults in terms of the laws, regulations, curricula and practices
that shape their lives at home, in schools, hospitals and playgrounds, as well
as the influence of individual parents, teachers and others. But children are not
always under the direct influence of adults, especially when they are playing with
others or sharing in peer culture (Kehily and Swann, 2003). And even when children
are with adults, they shape these adults as well as being shaped by them. They
negotiate their daily lives, their rights, responsibilities, activities and the
choices available about what they do, although how far these choices are
possible depends on their circumstances
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