Contrasting Views of Childhood - Essay Example

CHILDHOOD Childhood, the beginning of life and its experiences, define and direct the entire life and considered by sociologists and psychologists as the very core of life itself. It was Wordsworth who declared that child is the father of man. One cannot say that absolute attention had been bestowed particularly on childhood and its development. In the preface of Emile, Rousseau says: "We know nothing of childhood; and with our mistaken notions the further we advance the further we go astray. The wisest writers devote themselves to what a man ought to know, without asking what a child is capable of learning. They are always looking for the man in the child, without considering what he is before he becomes a man." With his uncanny ability of stating the obvious Rousseau also argued that 'nature wants children to be children before they are men. If we deliberately pervert this order, we shall get premature fruits which are neither ripe nor well-flavoured, and which soon decay' and thus put, it looks as though Rousseau did not like pressurising children in any way, by forcing their intellect to cope with unnecessary cumbersome studies that would hamper their mental growth more, than felicitating it. It is appalling to realise sometimes, that the present society is doing exactly the same and sometimes, the main guilt lies with ambitious parents. The year 1800 appeared with Britain and the rest of Europe already poised for new adventures. Industrialization had set in and French revolution was lulled into an uneasy calm only a few months ago, with the adventurer Napoleon now at the helm of French affairs. It is foolish to presume that the revolution did not have far reaching affect over the rest of the world politics and ways of thinking. Started with stunningly creative thoughts it was a great struggle for coherent voice of mankind; but unfortunately went out of control by destroying the very best crop of intellectuals of the day and the bloodbath that accompanied it horrified the rest of Europe and the World. Monarchies were at the edge; political changes were sweeping across the continent, social adjustments were urgently called for and with the industrialization and improvements, discoveries in science and technology, economy of Europe was entirely at an unpredictable path. In Britain, Romantic Literature and Arts were looming large, admired for its tranquillity and serenity far removed from the disquieting turbulence of the political, economic and social scene. Thinkers declared that being a child in those violent years was a terrifying experience. For the first time in its history, Europeans were venturing into far off colonies, in search of adventure and wealth as sailors, soldiers and administrators. Mobility had become the keyword and noble class was realising that titles without achievements are after all, insufficient for personal glory and wealth. This brought out a dedicated and noble yield of leaders belonging to the educated class, coming mainly from the nobility. This also means that the priority of children's education and upbringing was altered immensely. Priorities of the coming generations have changed and people in Europe were hoping their children to adorn better positions than they themselves did. Lower class aspired their children to work in industries connected with new discoveries, innovations and technological developments, whereas the middleclass mainly wanted their children to join the all important navy, ruling the waves across the world, and the noble and affluent class wanted their children to be educated and fill up administrative posts at home and in the exciting lands of colonies, that were being accumulated in vengeful competition by the European powers. Simultaneously the middle and upper classes hoped their children to be brilliant artists, glorious soldiers, scientists, engineers, adventurists, discoverers, diplomats, leaders in many new spheres, economists, writers, generals, decision makers and to put it succinctly, attain places of importance, glory and fame. This was in stark difference from the complacent and comfortable future, already laid out for the children before 1800. The political and historical changes gripping the European societies demanded much more from the new generations and generations yet to come and from this point, there was no looking back. These were the years when patriotism and love for the country surfaced and controlled education and its destinations for a long time to come. Educational institutions, academic requirements, universities offering various courses according to the needs of the day had been opened under Government rules. Foreign relations and diplomacy were given great importance. This brings to the ever-important institution of spies and secret agents that flourished in European countries, especially during the turbulent rule of Napoleon. Every court had its own vast group of spies and secret agents collecting information for their ruler and land, risking their own lives in the process, because this had never been considered as a safe occupation. As a matter of fact, it was much more dangerous than being soldiers or sailors, or directly participating in the war, because the work region is in the enemy's home and betrayals were often and cruel. Industrial training was made available through apprenticeships and vocational education. Various kinds of arts and crafts were being efficiently taught and this situation never stopped over the years, but went on improving itself and reached today's exalted position. Childhood, till then, was a mere biological factor. One is a child, because he is young and small and went through the usual motions complete with period of mild and approved education waiting to get into the positions already kept ready by their elders. Aspirations and ambitions were low and acceptance and resignation were high. Challenging the situation that came by birth to a child was rather rare, although not entirely unknown and the people who did challenge were accepted as leaders in their chosen fields, some successfully during their lifetime, and some were sadly unsuccessful. European societies were not really sympathetic towards these 'different' from the mould people as we can see from the treatment meted out to this unfortunate lot. But happily for the later generations, this lot was vehement, obstinate, persistent against all odds and paved the way for unquestioned intellectual destination. The rest did not do badly either. It is owing to this 'ordinary' lot that European countries could manage the far off colonies, bring home the wealth, have technological inventions at home, improve the transport and lives of people, accept flourishing originality in various creative fields and successfully rule the rest of the world for a century and half. Historically, 1800 afterwards had been the most 'happening' period in Europe and Britain. Napoleon and his ambitions were defeated and the discredited mighty emperor was banished into St. Helena, where he died an unsung death. Britain had to mobilise its resources and men for Trafalgar and Waterloo wars and France still remained a potential enemy. Monarchies of Europe, although related to each other many times, could not live without suspicion and hatred and involved their countries and people in it. Slowly pure democracies and ruler-based democracies were emerging out of dictatorship. Russian Revolution and assassination of the entire Romanov family left a deep scar in the history of Europe and the world. The subsequent communist takeover lasting for half a century resulting in Iron Curtain and Cold War, dominated the European countries throughout. Two World Wars started by Germany and her friends involved the entire world and destroyed intellectuality, resources and people. Dreadful weapons, mass killing processes were adopted while aviation left behind the rule over waves, till today's rather insipid 'welfare' societies emerged. Economically, although Europe saw and adjusted to many changes including Communism, Socialism and capitalism, there had been steady growth, either through the wealth attained in colonies, or through trade, or global business. Europe is one continent that took economic advantage of every situation after 1800 and almost all countries of this continent, especially Britain, saw immense economic growth till the beginning of the Second World War. No doubt the war brought economic disaster to all these countries, but since then, after a certain recovering period, again there had been worthwhile reconstruction. Computerization and globalisation have made it necessary for today's child to be different from his predecessors while choosing his field of education. Politically, Europe saw the maximum amount of changes during this period. Governments came, ruled and perished under the persistent unpredictability of time and the greatest of the political changes came when unimaginably powerful Soviet Russia fell victim to winds of change. European countries are still going through the adjusting period and the European Union, bringing together all these warring nation states under one banner had brought again the political and economic stability that was lost when the colonies moved away from the grip of imperialist powers. New technological developments contributed immensely to the economic welfare of the continent. Educationally all these countries, especially Britain built the best educational infrastructure and allowed these educational temples to function autonomously, leading the way to considerable excellence in the field. Today, European nations are welcoming students from various parts of the world and it shows the excellence, stability and continuous growth of these institutions. Starting with the necessity of schooling, expectation from the children had altered. European countries had seen a steady growth in educational institutions and facilities in these two centuries with enormous significance and pressure on children. Analysing the modern childhood Adam Philips says in the introduction to Aries (1960): "this new-found attentiveness to children and to childhood was part of a more dispiriting story about modernity. That as the child became an object of pleasure he or she also became an object of discipline: a creature in need of education; someone who needed watching. That with the invention of schooling came our modern sense of the long childhood." Sociologically these two centuries had been greatly gratifying not only to Europe, but also for the rest of the world. Europe saw individual liberty, fraternity and equality being rooted into the uneven societies of yore. Psychologically there were many adjustments to make and phenomena like Darwin, Dickens, Freud, Marx and many more had to be digested and assimilated into the human mental development. Social rules and norms changed by the minute in these last centuries. Homosexuality that eventually killed the genius Oscar Wilde came to be accepted as an important alternative of life. One cannot ignore the dehumanised side effects like clamp on intellectual growth under Communism or purging of Jews under Nazi rule. Role and presence of children and requirements of childhood persistently kept changing according to the social needs. Postman (1994) says in his The Disappearance of Childhood (p.xi): "Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see. From the biological point of view it is inconceivable that any culture will forget that it needs to reproduce itself. But it is quite possible for a culture to exist without children. Unlike infancy, childhood is a social artefact, not a biological category," (taken from Jenks, 1996, p.116). Hence, we have to agree that childhood is not a mere biological state, but a biological state, heavily depending on historical, political, sociological, economical and educational surroundings. "A history of childhood then, is not regarded as a description of a succession of events, rather it is seen as providing the moral grounds of current speech about the child, and the family, and the unfinished business or unwritten story of the contemporary adult," says Jenks (1996, p.48). With the requirement of schooling and education, also came the need of punishing the children. This does not mean that parents never punished their children before; but after schooling, punishments got institutionalised. Today physical punishment of children is thoroughly discredited, though psychological agony could still be inflicted as though nothing really has changed. "Thus the nature of punishment has remained essentially unchanged. All that can be said is that the necessity for vengeance is better directed nowadays than in the past," Durkheim, (1984, p.48). A greatly gratifying occurrence is the female literacy and its establishment in society as an accepted norm. In the meantime, education, science and industrialisation had been moving forward almost hand in hand. Over the years, there had been a negative trend of discouraging religious education and Government itself was unwilling to take it further. "Nevertheless, far from supporting devout, amenable and obedient (for which bible-based indoctrination would have sufficed), central Government became increasingly unwilling to pay for religious instruction and anxious that its considerable financial input into public education should show practical returns," says Stephens (1998, p.18). Childhood's dependence on social construction could be seen in every society, regardless of its period, regions and variations. Today games and toys have become part of education. Domestication of leisure by bringing television, music and radio to every home, perspective of education has changed and choice for the children has increased. Social policies are playing an important rule even though, sadly, some of them are responsible for the disappearance of childhood. Along with children's rights, duties and assumptions too have gained importance, restricting the children more and more. They are more confined; community living has changed into individualistic existence in small houses and tiny gardens. Community places are fast disappearing. The surrounding art, music, and creativity are a great influence in the child's mind today. Child and his intellectual and educational development also depends on family size, its economy, parents' income etc. Children are given political and social identities and they become 'children of the nation' as mentioned by a contemporary reformer. The voluminous abundance of children literature has made great difference and mirrors the social attitudes of the society of time. "Child-rearing literature is always a significant indicator of certain societal attitudes towards, children, irrespective of the degree to which parents follow the guidance," Hendrick (1997, p.31). Many thinkers are of the opinion that the changes undergone by children in the last two centuries are downright radical, if not uncomfortable for children. There are also arguments that it has provoked imagination and creativity amongst children. One person who could never ignore children was Charles Dickens and children of many generations owe him a debt of gratitude, as he pioneered coherence in children. He changed the dark days of childhood when high mortality rate existed due to negligence and societies and priests looked at children mainly as sinners. "The sins most generally mentioned with regard to children concern sexual offences and theft. The canons that mention children in the confessions of others reflect the high mortality rate among young children," Wood, (1994, p. 64). Pioneers like Walter Disney created wonder world for children firing their imagination and dreams. Still the fact remains that every child is a prisoner of his own social and historical surroundings and was raised and reciprocated according to the prevailing situation. "Visions of childhood will vary with the questions each generation is asking itself, whether about duty or levity, feminism, race class, the freedom to be a child or the challenge to grow up, the necessity to endure, to adapt or to effect change, Mills (2000, p.72). This also reiterates the opinion that childhood responds to the existing culture and its needs. "The starting point for the new paradigm of the sociology of childhood is that childhood is a social construction. This suggests that conceptions of childhood - what it is like to should be like to be a child - is part of culture and, as such, transforms through time and space," says Anne Solberg in James (1997, p. 126). Today's restricted childhood has ushered in unprecedented isolation, especially on urban children. They are fulfilling the need of the State and its institutions, which would accord them distinctions. "Knowledge requires authority in the modern nation state. Its characteristic education systems depend on the exertion of various kinds of authority. Institutions are endowed with the power to grant social status on individuals, to award them credentials and to authorize ideas and practices with the status of socially significant knowledge," Bartlette (2001, p.88). With the higher education, social significance and status too were changing. "Our society sets high standards: professions are entered by means of qualifying examinations, and entry to these qualifying examinations requires the attainment of certain preliminary academic standards. These standards, again, are established by examinations and other forms of assessment," Morrish, (1972, p. 151). BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Aries, Philip (1996), Centuries of Childhood, London, Pimlico. 2. Bartlett, Steve et al (2001), Introduction to Education Studies, Paul Chapman Publishing, London. 3. Durkheim, Emile (1994), The Division of Labour in Society, Macmillan Press Ltd., Hampshire. 4. Hendrick, Harry (1996), Children, childhood and English society, 1880-1990, Cambridge University Press. 5. James, Allison and Prout, Alan (1991), Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood, Falmer Press, London. 6. Morrish, Ivor (1972), The Sociology of Education, an introduction, George Allen and Unwin ltd., London. 7. Mills, Jean and Mills, Richard (2000), eds. Childhood Studies, Routledge, London. 8. Rousseau, Jean Jacques, translated by Barbara Foxley (1969), London, Dent. 9. Stephens, W.B. (1998), Education in Britain, 1750 - 1914, Macmillan Press Ltd., Hampshire. 10. Wood, Diana (1994), ed., The Church and Childhood, The Ecclesiastical History Society, Oxford. Read More