A Child as the Source of Happiness for the Adults - Essay Example

?PACING WITH THE YOUNGSTER: AN INSIGHT ON CHILD AND CHILDHOOD A child is the source of happiness for the adults. A child amuses us. They are stunningand lovely beings that appear to be angels who came down from heaven. People rejoice upon their nativity and are simply in awe while watching a child mature and develop. Women, who are not blessed of having a child, attempt every means possible just to conceive a child even to the extent of adopting or purchasing a baby just to have a child. Children are prominent figures everywhere in television commercials or advertisements, movies, storybooks, novels, and soap operas. The qualities of purity, innocence, delight, faith, hope, charity and magnificence are attributed to a child—traits that people seem to lose upon reaching adulthood. To better comprehend the concept of a child, the different perceptions associated with a child should be further tackled and scrutinized. Traditionally, a child has been defined as a comparative negative: a child is an individual who is not yet an adult (Van Bueren 1998) or an individual embodied being that is not an adult (Gittins 1998). However, the child is a transitory being that is constantly changing, growing and developing (Gittins 1998). During the time of Plato and Aristotle, about half a century before the birth of Christ, the classical Athenian attitude towards children saw them as simply cute, not to be taken too seriously, but to be loved and enjoyed (Frost 2010). Biologically, the child is defined as a human between the stages of birth and puberty. The legal definition of a child, on the contrary, implies that the child refers to a minor, younger than the age of maturity. Moreover, a child may be defined as someone who is under 18 years old especially when it comes to the law. For Pufall and Unsworth (2004), the child is an age-related concept which is the classificatory label given to the category of people who inhabit that temporal space or time of life called childhood. On the other hand, Gittins (1998) also pointed out that the child and the concept of childhood is a myth, a fiction, an adult construction. However, both have become symbolically central to our culture and psychologically crucial to our sense of self. Gittins (1998) further adds that the child exists in imagery that pervades our conscious and even in our unconscious minds; it is evident that images of a child are everywhere. Childhood, on the contrary, is believed to begin from the moment of conception (Van Bueren 1998). Pufall and Unsworth (2004) stressed that the term childhood embraces the temporality of the developmental aspects of children’s lives. Gittins (1998) emphasized that individuals’ memories of their own childhoods inform their ideas regarding who they think they are, who they think they once were, what they believe children are and therefore, what they believe a child and the concept of childhood should be. Mash and Wolfe (2010) recognize children as persons with a value independent of any other purpose. Each and every person consequently carries their own, usually well-hidden and frequently denied, emotional and irrational baggage relating to their own subjective experiences of having once been a child (Gittins 1998). On the contrary, according to Kozier et al (2004) if a child grew up in a family whose members appreciate, respect and cherish each other are likely to feel good about himself when he becomes an adult. Childhood, however, has its pessimistic views and disapproving constructions. One example is the Puritan Discourse of childhood that focuses on the belief of inherent wickedness (Kassem 2010). Kassem (2010) further suggests that the proponents of this view hold a construction of childhood as uncivilized. The idea of childhood is also reflected on two discourses that strengthen contemporary understandings of childhood: the Romantic discourse or the optimistic view of childhood and the discourse of tabula rasa or blank slate. Kehily (2004) cited that the Romantic discourse, extracted upon the work of the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, claimed that children embody a state of innocence, purity and natural goodness that is only contaminated on contact with the corrupt outside world. The Romantic vision of a child attributed them with a spirituality that placed them close to God, nature and all things good; thus, children’s purity should be esteemed and secluded in order for them to convey themselves generously and productively (Kehily 2004). On the contrary, the tabula rasa discourse is derived upon the philosophy of John Locke who developed the idea that children come into the world as blank slates who could, with supervision, assistance and training, mature and develop into rational human beings (Kehily 2004). John Locke wrote of children as the recipients of an ideal upbringing, citizens in the making, fledgling but imperfect reasoners and blank sheets filled by experience (Archard 2004). Archard (2004) cited that childhood for Locke is a stage in the developmental process whose end is adulthood, thus, children would seem to be imperfect, incomplete versions of their adult selves. Both the Puritan discourse and the tabula rasa discourse, with an inherent blank slate construction of the child, position childhood as a time of becoming; hence, this results in parents and educators being held responsible for controlling innate savagery and producing rational civilized beings (Kassem 2010). Essentialism sets the importance of the intrinsic characteristics of a child. Bergh and Van den Bulck (2000) listed two concepts that influenced Western thinking about children: the Dionysian child and the Apollonian child. The Dionysian child has a fundamental ruthlessness and wickedness, which is the responsibility of an adult to control or break; whereas, the Apollonian child carries within the positive potential that mandates care and stimulation to unfold in adult life (Bergh and Van den Bulck 2000). Jenks (2005) further adds that the Dionysian child is supposed to enter the world as a wilful material force; they are impish and harbour a potential evil, while the Apollonian child are regarded as angelic, innocent and untainted by the world they have recently entered. In short, the Dionysian child is inherently flawed and tainted with evil while the Apollonian child is inherently good and unflawed (Lawler 2000). Attitude by adults towards children, therefore, is vital in shaping children to be better individuals. Attitude according to Flekkoy and Kaufman (1997) is the settled mode of thinking. Children are born without attitudes, but through experiences with the world around them, be it simple and complex; build attitudes as learned reaction-patterns (Flekkoy and Kaufman 1997). Basically, the conscious and unconscious attitudes of adults as an individual and as a group directly and indirectly influence children’s attitudes. On the other hand, Chinese culture showed the prominence of filial piety which emphasizes what children owe parents rather than what parents owe children (Kinney 1995). Theories pertinent to studying the child exist in a variety of disciplines. Theories, however are so broad hence, Gittins (1998) tried to tackle the theories focusing the child in three levels: the material, the personal and the cultural. On a material level, Marxist theory highlights both the chronological unpredictability of societies, and the relevant determinants of disparity, life chances and living circumstances (Gittins 1998). It stressed that poverty moves capitalist economy to utilize cheap labour to be able to maximize profits; children, along with women, are considered a part of this. Nevertheless, in this theory, the child is only scrutinized as part of a bigger whole and it takes minimum consideration of gender differences in children, though, knowing this is important in providing causes for the inequalities suffered by children in different countries in a variety of cultures. Another theory which focuses on gender variances specifically is the Feminist theory (Gittins 1998). This theory focuses on ways in which ideas, beliefs and ideology, but most significantly it emphasizes power relations based on gender, can determine pertinent situation and life probabilities as much as fiscal features affecting a child. The child has also been a conventional focal point of psychology. One of the theorists enumerated by Gittins (1998) is Freud. Freud’s theory on child development convey ages and stages at which it is deemed that particular behaviours are fitting and essential for psychological and physical welfare and maturation (Gittins 1998). Other groups, who gave meaning to the term child, are the Conservatives and the Functionalists. Gittins (1998) cited that Conservatives’ and Functionalists’ belief, rooted on St. Augustine’s notion of Original Sin, emphasized that a child is born weak and inherently prone to transgression and dishonesty. On the contrary, Marxists and Liberals, guided by the principles of Rousseau, view the child as someone who is born innocent and corrupted by society; this viewpoint represents the human nature signified by the child (Gittins 1998). Another group, the symbolic Interactionalists like Cooley, Mead, James and Dewey consider the fact that the orderly sequence of a child’s growth and development as largely irrelevant, they are concerned on understanding how the object called child comes to enter into the very processes that produce its own self-consciousness and awareness of others (Denzin 2010). Furthermore, Denzin (2010) stressed that Interactionalists deemed that the child is able to shape, define and negotiate its relationship to the external world of objects, others and social situations. Hence, an Interactionalist, as implied by Denzin (2010), disdains a strict developmental approach and favours instead a naturalistic account of the growth and materialization of self-perception and self-realization in childhood. Children are historical products; this fact was acknowledged by Phillipe Aries in his work entitled, Centuries of Childhood in 1962, where he argued that children as they are known in the contemporary Western World did not come into existence until the mid sixteenth century; Aries’ research also supports this proposition: Aristocratic or elitist concepts of childhood emerge in societies before low-class or ethnic minority views (Denzin 2010). On the contrary, Shahar made a strong call for more detailed regional studies of childhood back in the Middle Ages, despite being a critique of Aries, Shahar emphasized that the custom of baptizing an infant several days after birth was inspired by the negative image of the child and the parents’ hope for salvation for their children, their fear of damnation or life in limbo for their children; and the need to publicly demonstrate, as soon as possible, society’s acceptance of their children (Haas 1998). The Social Constructionist perspective, with its preference for relativism, has greatly contributed to increasing awareness of diversities of child images in different places and different times, and to making individuals cautious of taking whatever is talked about childhood at face value or as universal, predetermined and fixed facts (Huskinson 2008). Huskinson (2008) further adds that according to this perspective, all our images of children and childhood are to be seen as social constructions; this could be understood to mean that the origins of child images could be traced to particular values embedded in specific cultural contexts in particular times and places. Nevertheless, from the social constructionist point of view, all the images of the child are products of particular societies and human meaning making (Huskinson 2008). Another influential theory within the new sociological childhood paradigm comes from the researches James and Prout; their sociology of childhood has been seen as offering a child perspective (Sommer et al 2010). Sommer et al (2010) further highlighted that this view is highly critical of classical child psychology and developmental psychology with their abstract, universal child. Furthermore, this type of childhood sociology was explicitly launched as the reality-oriented counterpoint to psychology’s de-contextualized child paradigm (Sommer et al 2010). The child plays a significant role in the society despite being the simplest ones in the pack. A child has been labelled as active agents in the society depending on the role they agreed to take part on, using their own attitudes and dispositions, they begin to create a new culture—a shared culture brought about by the mixing of their languages, their ideas, their feelings and their experiences (Smidt 2006). Child development has also been the center of attention by many theorists. An example of this is The Psychosocial Developmental Schemes by Piaget in 1962 which proposed that age per se is associated and calls out certain fixed responses on the part of children (Denzin 2010). Moreover, children pass through a variety of age-graded developmental phases: autistic, egocentric and sociocentric wherein children may not act as responsible social interactants until after the age of seven; thus, until that age, Piaget suggests, they engage in egocentric conversations and parallel play, in short, they do not take account of one another in reciprocal terms (Denzin 2010). The moral imperative lying behind much of international human rights law is to treat all humanity as of equal worth and this include even the modest ones of all human beings, that is, a child (Van Bueren 1998). Hence, many treaties and laws promote the concept of equality and avert discrimination. Fawcett (2000) cited the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by United Kingdom at 1991 which, aims to provide children with adequate food, clothing, protection, medical care and appropriate education. Van Bueren (1998) also mentioned that such laws were formulated to protect the child and to act in accordance for a child’s best interests. Furthermore, underpinning the Convention on the Rights of a child, the international law centres on both the best interests of a child and the evolving capacities of the child (Van Bueren 1998). The evolving capacities of the child originate from the fact that a child is not yet an adult; hence, at different stages of a child’s life, a child necessitates diverse degrees of protection, stipulation, preclusion and involvement. This is incorporated in article 5 of the Convention of the Rights of the child, which highlights the importance of “appropriate direction and guidance”, this removes any implication that the decision maker or the child’s guardian has an unlimited discretion to impart any type of direction for the child during the entire period of childhood (Van Bueren 1998). Unfortunately, Van Bueren (1998) also stressed that the best interests of the child are hardly explained at the United Nations or UN Convention, and at times, other weighty issues are given more importance such as religious laws or economic considerations. Moreover, Brykczynska and Simons (2011) stressed that even with such laws aiming to protect child’s rights; children are still exploited in a very large scale. One of the pressing issues concerning children is the high infant mortality rate which refers to the fatal diseases of infancy; Garrett (2008) stressed that this was rather a social than a medical problem and consequently the means in improving infant conditions is rooted in the role of the mother who is responsible in influencing the infant’s survival chances. Another grave matter involving the child especially at contemporary times is the One Child Policy which is apparent and exercised in China due to its large population (Kinney 1995). This law mandates that couples have no more than one child. Hence, it has been credited with a very crucial slowing of China’s population growth which had been elevated before the policy was implemented. However, it was also faced with criticisms because it compelled couples to exercise coerced abortions and imposed sterilizations. Also, if the couple is born with another child and they kept it a secret, the parents of that child must shell out a large amount of money every day that child is alive. The child is ascribed with a variety of characteristics and forms. The child can be viewed as the Innocent one. Children’s view of the world begins with their parents and other influential people around them (Beal 2010). When parents don’t provide the love and support children need, their automatic assumption is to believe they have done something wrong and they have caused parents to act the way they do. Children attempt to get the recognition and love they desire and when their needs are not met they blame themselves. The belief of not being loved and accepted is compounded by their belief that they are guilty (Beal 2010). Children often come up with stories to rationalize displeasure and frustrations in an effort to make sense of the world. The child can also be illustrated as a fragile and weak individual. The child under pressure and if without caution will break anytime just like human bones. Being a frail and feeble person, the child is defenceless amidst the challenges surrounding him/her. Hence, they need someone to be their protector and who will be their advocate in safeguarding their safety and their rights. Other people may consider the child as a threat. For instance, when there is unwanted pregnancy, the child inside the mother’s womb is perceived by the woman as a threat to her status in the society especially if the man is reluctant in fulfilling his responsibility to the unborn child. In other cases, the child may be used by criminal fugitives as their means of survival; utilizing the child as their source of income by posing as beggars in the streets, vendors of any kind patronized by the public, and worse, thieves and couriers of illegal drugs. Hence, with this evil perception of the child, the child becomes a threat to the society and to the principles of peace and justice that every community wishes to uphold. In contemporary society, the developing child however, continues to interact dynamically with the communities they live in and in turn, rapidly changing social, economic, physical, cultural and technological environments pose an impact on the child. It is obvious that every generation presents concern about children yet the process of growing up does not change dramatically over time. The child could be delineated and identified in a variety of ways. They could be generally depicted as the virtuous of all the beings or the malevolent of all the creatures that God created. Children can be attributed with the values of purity, innocence, love, charity, modesty, simplicity and humility; simply because many consider them as angelic in nature. However, for people who despise and are not fond of them, a child could be considered as troublesome, naughty, incommodious, annoying, vexing, and difficult to handle evil little creatures of nature that needs to be avoided or worse, eliminated. However, children play a vital role in the society for these ones mark the foundation of each community for the mere fact that every adult individual was once a child to begin with. Hence, how an individual is shaped and guided during his or her childhood years is essential on which person he or she becomes in the future. Understanding and instilling the concepts of the child and childhood in our minds and hearts will play a big part in the upholding of every person’s belief and values that would aid in the making of a great society every individual will recognize and be proud of. References Archard, D. (2004) Children: rights and childhood, p. 1-247. New York: Routledge. Beal, D. (2010) Viewpoint of the Innocent Child. The Extraordinary Workplace: Replacing Fear with Trust and Compassion, p. 134. United States of America: First Sentient Publications. Benson, J.B. and Haith, M.M. (2009) Social and Emotional Development in Infancy and Early Childhood, p. 1-548. Oxford: Elsevier Inc. Bergh, B. and Van den Bulck, J. (2000) Views of Childhood and the media in children’s media studies. Children and Media: Multidisciplinary Approaches, p. 69. Netherlands: CBGS & Garant Publishers. Brykczynska, G.M. and Simons, J. (2011) Ethical and Philosophical Aspects of Nursing Children and Young People, p. 1-288. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Corsaro, W. (2010) The Sociology of Childhood, p. 1-437. [np]: Pine Forge Press. Denzin, N.K. (2010) The Politics of Childhood. Childhood Socialization, p. 15-24. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. Devi, L. et al (1998) Social Attitude towards children, p. 1-470. [np]: Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd. Fawcett, M. (2000) Historical Views of Childhood. Focus on Early Childhood: principles and realities, p. 7-19. [np]: Wiley-Blackwell. Flekkoy, M.G. and Kaufman, N.H. (1997) The Participation Rights of the Child: rights and responsibilities in family and society, p. . London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers Ltd. Frost, J.L. (2010) A History of Children’s Play and Play Environments: toward a contemporary child-saving movement, p. 1-295. New York: Routledge. Garrett, E. (2008) Infant Mortality: a continuing Social Problem, p. 1-293. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited. Gittins, D. (1998) The Child in Question, p. 1-202. London: Macmillan Press Ltd. Haas, L. (1998) The Renaissance Man and His Children: childbirth and early childhood in Florence 1300-1600, p. 203. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Heywood, C. (2001) A History of Childhood: children and childhood in the West from Medieval to Modern Times, p. 1-231. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Huskinson, L. (2008) Re-imagining the Child: challenging Social Constructionist Views of Childhood. Dreaming the Myth Onwards: New directions in Jungian Therapy and Thought, p. 168-171. New York: Routledge. Jenks, C. (2005) The Birth of Childhood. Childhood, p. 62-65. New York: Routledge. Kassem, D. (2010) Key Issues in Childhood and Youth Studies, p. 1-219. New York: Routledge. Kehily, M.J. (2004) An Introduction to Childhood Studies, p. 1-196. New York: McGraw-Hill International. Kinney, A.B. (1995) Chinese views of Childhood, p. 1-352. United States of America: University of Hawaii Press. Kozier, B., Erb, G., Berman, A. and Snyder, S. (2004) Childhood Self-Concept. Fundamentals of Nursing: Concepts, Process and Practice Seventh Edition, p. 968-969. Singapore: Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd. Lawler, S. (2000) Childhood: individuality and sameness. Mothering the self: mothers, daughters, subjects, p. 38-39. New York: Routledge. Mash, E.J. and Wolfe, D.A. (2010) Abnormal Child Psychology, p. 1-557. California: Wadsworth. Pufall, P.B. and Unsworth, R.P. (2004) Rethinking Childhood, p. 1-292. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. Santrock, J. W. (2001) Child Development, p. 1-585. New York: McGraw-Hill International. Saraga, E. (1998) Embodying the social: constructions of difference, p. 1-215. New York: Routledge. Smidt, S. (2006) The Developing Child in the 21st Century: A Global Perspective on Child Development, p. 1-150. New York: Routledge. Sommer, D., Samuelsson, I.P. and Hundeide, K. (2010) Child Perspectives and Children’s Perspectives in Theory and Practice, p. 1-245. [np]: Springer. Van Bueren, G. (1998) The Definition and Status of a Child in International Law. The International Law on the Rights of a Child, p. 32-57. Netherlands: Kluwer Law International. Vasta, R., Haith, M.M. and Miller, S.A. (1995) Child Psychology: the modern Science, p. 1-643. [np]: J. Wiley and Sons. Read More