What Is It Like to Be a Young Child - Assignment Example

 The paper "What Is It Like to Be a Young Child?" is a great example of an assignment on psychology. 

What was it like to be a boy/girl when you were young (say about 10 years old)?
When I was young, (in the ’70s) to be a girl meant that to be within our private space, but with limited exposure. As far as I am concerned, my parents did not try to limit my freedom to an extent. They provided proper education and encouraged me to go for higher studies. They knew that society is undergoing rapid change and girl children cannot survive the competition without education. But most parents considered that preparation for married life was most important for girls and they must learn household works.

What did you want to do, considering both your work life and nonwork life, when you grew up?
As pointed out, my parents encouraged me to go beyond my limitations. Once, I explained to them that I wanted to be a primary school teacher. They advised me that I must not limit my ambition within primary schools, but must extend it towards colleges. I felt pleased and motivated with that advice because they did not discourage me, but encouraged me with valuable advice. Within my nonwork life, I knew that teaching job can help me to have more leisure time. Some of my friends got married after their higher education, but I did not give up an unending aspiration and interest in education. Usually, teen-age ambitions will undergo change. When I grew up, my ambition also grew up!

What did you expect to do when you grew up?
To be frank, I expected myself to do the job of a teacher. Surprised? Can to imagine a girl expecting to become a teacher in the 1970s-1980s? But it was the right choice which transformed my life as a whole, the life of an educator. The only change was that my parents encouraged me to become a college professor, not a primary school teacher.

What constraints and opportunities did you see, if any, on what you could do with your life because you were male/female?
The main limitation was that femininity limited one’s upward mobility in society. For example, society considered education as the preparatory stage for married life. When one tries to go beyond this limit, all will begin to criticize. On the other side, feminine identity helped me to keep myself within my private space without any external interference in my private life. Still, the society was not ready to set me free because people used to compare my life with others

How do you think things have changed for boys/girls since you were young? Have things changed for the better or for the worse? Why?
I think that things have changed for girls since I was young. For example, girls began to provide importance to their higher education. They began to consider that their life is similar to male life and the only difference is in physical condition. Thomas Borstelmann opined that “The shift in institutional support for girls’ participation in sports marked a major change in American life” (87). I consider that things have changed for better because girls are ready to make use of their ability for a better future. They are not ready to give up their dreams and ambition, and this is the most important change that I have noticed among girls

If you had the choice, would you rather be a young boy/girl now or when you actually were one? Why?
For sure, I would be a young girl because it can help me to view girls’ life from a different angle of view. In addition, this may help me to encourage girls to go beyond their limits and to be productive citizens in the future

Other responses.
I feel so happy to be a teenager at the end of the 1970s and as a youngster in the 1980s. That helped me to realize the importance of personal liberty in life as a female member of the society. Still, I remember that the support from my parents transformed my life!  Read More