Childhood in a Historical Context - Essay Example

? Day Month Year Children and Media Introduction Ask twenty different people what they believe the ideal definition of ‘childhood’ is and you will likely receive twenty entirely different responses. Thoughts given will likely differ depending on whether the family was poor or rich, educated or uneducated. Ideas about what the role of the child is will be different by culture, religion, and ethnic group. In short, there is likely no one logical answer to the concept of childhood, yet it is fascinating to study how the notion of the role of the child in a family structure has shifted over the years. The historical definition of childhood is altogether different than that consistent with the modern era. While cultural constructs of childhood continue to differ today by culture and region of the world, the reality is that the global notion of how children should be raised and taught to integrate into society is gradually changing to the point that it will not resemble the childhood of old. The idea of childhood is both complex and simple. As discussed in COM 126, childhood is the one social institution that we cannot truly understand and begin to dissect until we have lived through it. Since each of us has now successfully entered adulthood, we are able to begin to understand the reality of our own childhood. In order to understand the reality of others, however, we must dive into and understand difficult cultural ideals and notions. We must examine childhood in a historical context, and look at how the modern era is causing us to rethink past ideas about the child and family. This paper is an attempt to answer these questions and to analyze the current role of children in society, across societies, and through the lens of history. The Historical Relationship of Family and Child If we just consider America, we can see a radical shift in the way children are viewed in society about every 30-40 years. Let us remember that a mere century ago, young children were commonly seen as breadwinners in the household. While women were primarily responsible for child bearing and maintaining the house, husbands and were fathers were relegated to earning a living for the entire family. In the early days of our country, particularly thought the Great Depression, this was not enough. As such, children were often asked, or forced, to give up their education and work from an early age. In a sense, they grew up much too quickly and took on roles that today we reserve strictly for adults. As we have read and discussed at length, the children in America during the 1800s and early 1900s often worked hard. While society today has evolved towards a changing perspective about what the function of children should be in the family, other cultures today in the world are still in the same cycle of child labor and a lost childhood. As Stephanie Coontz portrays, the traditional idea of a family in the 50’s and 60’s has gradually shifted as well. While children were largely cared for and given a good education, they were subject to performing certain gender roles that society had thrust upon them. Coontz contends that we have evolved as a society and that few individuals would ever want to revert to a time where gender roles were so rigid and racial lines limited what children were allowed to do and whom they were allowed to do it with (1998). In years gone by, the mother typically was able to do much of the child rearing on her own. This created the concept of the nuclear family and served America well for decades. Children typically knew their place in the family and they could usually depend on specific roles that their father and mother performed respectively. As will be discussed in the next section, however, this concept of childhood has changed in recent years as mothers are now increasingly in the workforce. This has created an effect where many more segments of society are involved in the raising of a child than ever seen before in history. In Africa, we have the tribal elders that help raise the child, while in Asia it is the grandparents and other prominent members of the community. This historically has proven the way that families grow together in these cultures. Western culture has largely shunned this reality, in exchange for parents doing the majority of the work socializing their own children. This has resulted in a childhood that is far different in America than it is in Asia, but that diversity is what makes the world so beautiful. Even when children were forced into a life of labor in the early days of America, the family unit was strong and the bond between child and parent often unshakeable. Even going back centuries, the family was seen as a nuclear unit. Children largely remained with either the mother or father and they had specific roles to perform to ensure the survival and the effectiveness of the overall family structure. While larger society was certainly important, they did not typically take on any type of parental roles that we associate with the family today. While village and tribal elders certainly had an important role to play, and children living in abject poverty have always had to look elsewhere for sustenance and support, the family largely remained together, relatively untouched from outside influence (Aries 1962). Childhood has undergone a metamorphosis of sorts throughout the centuries. There is little denying that. The notion of childhood can be seen as a journey through which families have evolved through numerous trials to arrive at where they are today. The Modern Day Role of the Family as the Protector of the Child Throughout history, the family has been seen as the protector of children. They are, if you will, a first line of defense. As mentioned in the previous section, however, children were often thrust into adulthood far earlier than they were really ready – either physically or psychologically. As a result, society today, in general, has evolved to the point that they take on the protector role when the family cannot. Whereas in years past, most, if not all, of the parenting was done by a family member, today society gets more intimately involved. Some would even argue that the Internet has taken up root us a primary influencer of childhood in recent years. Today’s childhood does not just take place at home. School, community centers, friends, technology, and a host of other societal influences serve to define what childhood truly is. While this arguably differs from culture to culture, the reality is that globalization is rapidly changing the way we view children and their role in society. We often hear of children being robbed of their innocence. All too often society strips childhood down to its core and takes away the ability of the child to live and to truly be free. It is important to examine childhood from this construct because not all cultures have made the same advances in regards to the way that children are treated in a social environment. Fass (2003) notes that, “Children are most definitely part of the Western sensibility about globalization, and childhood is a particularly sensitive node for cultural contention in the politics of globalization” (963). While we may look at other countries and express dismay at the way children are often thrust into adulthood far before its time, America need only look at its recent past to see how far we have come as a society. It is still sobering to note, however, that globalization has not found its way into may countries. Countries in the Middle East and Asia still see adults taking children of bribes, robbing them of the very essence of love and acceptance. In Southeast Asia, children today continue to toil for hours a day in sweatshops and factories, being denied the privilege of education and they joy of playtime. In many cultures, education continues to be devalued and girls are forces into a life within the confines of the home. All of this together tells us that, while we have come a long way, there is still a long journey ahead of us. The modern era in America has seen the resurgence of childhood. Fass herself focuses on the areas of work, play, and sexuality to discuss how globalization has affected the concept of childhood in different cultures (964). While work has been deemphasized in America when it comes to children, young people today are exposed to a variety of sexual images and messages that were never dreamed of a mere twenty to thirty years ago. While we encourage our children today to play hard and enjoy their formative years, the explosion of the Internet, combined with media, has created a similar effect in regards to how quickly children grow up. In the past, we thrust children into a work environment, while today we silently encourage them to embrace their sexual being. The cycle appears to be endless. The modern day family is complex. With so many images and messages competing for the attention of a child, parents are often left wondering what the concept of childhood entails themselves. As this paper has demonstrated, there is no denying that the childhood of today is different than that of yesterday. Is this, however, an entirely positive development? Sure, children today often live in a more comfortable environment and they are subject to less harsh conditions, but the role of parenthood has shifted as well. No long are the mother and father looked to as the primary guiding force and influence in a child’s life. Instead, they are relegated in stature in deference to other societal influences that have gained ground in recent years. Only time will tell if history will show this to be a positive or negative development. It is important to remember that the family is one of today’s most vita social institutions. In fact, the breakdown of the family is attributed as a major factor in the moral decline of society in general. Back in the 50’s and 60’s, when families often stayed together and interacted on a regular basis, many believe that the moral fabric of the country was much different that it is today. Childhood today all too often consists of children being largely left on their own. Families do not often sit down together to eat, parents are uninvolved in their children’s educational and peer environment, and divorce is rampant. As a result, the reality is that many children today live in split households where only one parent is present at a time. This has resulted in a situation where the media has begun to slowly become the major socializing influence in the life of our children. Today’s media is sexier, more violent, and more pervasive in the life of young people than ever before. No longer is the media relegated to the television set. With the advent of the Internet, social media, and other video and instantaneous streaming options, children today are exposed to a wide array of information that was never known to them years previously. This has also, interestingly enough, connected children with other cultures around the world. Today, a child in Nebraska can instantly communicate with an individual in China. This has broadened the horizons of today’s children, but has also created potential pitfalls due to security and privacy concerns. Many would argue that the media has robbed today’s child of their innocence. Others would content that the media has taken the job of parenting and socializing out of the hands of mom and dad and put it solely in the lap of outside influences. For many concerned parents, this is frightening, as they seem to be losing control. As mentioned in class, this is a global phenomenon, and not one reserved solely for the West. In many respects, many Asian and Middle Eastern cultures have been in this state for quite some time. The reality, as well, is that the media will likely continue this role of being actively involved in way today’s young person experiences childhood. Their messages will be prevalent and will probably continue to be the motivating factor behind many of the decisions that are made and the behaviors that are exhibited on a daily basis. Conclusion History has a way of repeating itself. While society would like to believe that they have evolved in the area of children’s rights, in many respects the wheel has simply been reinvented. Given the rapid expansion of technology and the interconnectedness of cultures around the country, we are lead to believe that children today have more flexibility and are allowed to experience childhood to a greater extent than at any other time in our existence. History tells us that children have long been viewed as an extension of the family. They are contributors and enablers. Society has often asked them to perform tasks that the rational mind says should be reserved for adulthood. In the West, we seem to have evolved away from that mindset, but have drifted into another reality where the media and technology have become agents of socialization for children once reserved for the parents. Childhood has certainly not been lost, but in many countries around the world, it has been misdirected. Western countries may be looked up to today in terms of how children are treated and that way that society embraces them to be free, but other cultures do not often enjoy the same luxuries that we do. When there are few options available to the people, childhood becomes a foreign concept reserved only for the wealthy. Let us hope that the day soon comes when childhood truly becomes a concept that is available for everyone. Children need to be allowed to develop at their own pace, putting off adulthood as long as possible. That would be a marvelous day indeed. Works Cited Aries, Philippe. Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1962. Print. Coontz, Stephanie. The Way We Really Are: Coming to Terms with America’s Changing Families. New York: Basic, 1997. Print. Fass, Paula. “Children and Globalization.” Journal of Social History. 36.4 (2003): 963-977. Read More