The Concept of “Childhood” in Relation to Current Government Policies on Children

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Children are usually considered blessings from God. The birth of a child is usually celebrated by the whole family and community. The saying “It takes a village to raise a child” is true in most situations. A child can be viewed as a symbol of a new chance at having to mold another human being into someone whose potentials are optimally realized. This paper will explore how society, in general, view children, and how this view affects government policies regarding children.

Many theorists have presented their views on children. Behaviorists led by the prominent B.F. Skinner, John B. Watson, Edward Thondike, etc., see children as organisms that learn by reinforcement. The Maturationists, led by Jean-Jacques Rosseau, Maria Montessori, Friedrich Froebel, etc. see the child as like a seed that contains all the elements to produce fruit if given the proper amounts of nutrients from the soil and water along with sunshine and an ideal climate (Brewer, 2001). The Constructivists, founded on the works of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, believe that children are not passive recipients of knowledge, rather, they actively work at organizing their experience into constructing their learning.

Berry Mayall has studied the way society views children. According to her, children are not considered as part of society, but only inhabit a preparatory stage before they are considered contributing members, as adults. “During childhood, they move through a series of stages that gradually equip them for life as mature, reasoning adults. Society functions smoothly—because these methods generally produce conformists.” (Mayall, 2006) Such a view places children as an inferior place, ruled by adults who “know what’s best” for them. Mayall argues that it is about time society shift this traditional belief into thinking of children as capable human beings. However, the long history of this sociological view makes it difficult to do. Mayall says, “Perhaps the greatest barrier to re-thinking childhood is the set of labels we are taught to associate with the idea of childhood. To take a few terms applied to them: children are termed incompetent, unstable, credulous, unreliable, emotional. Implicitly, and sometimes explicitly, we adults ascribe to adults the opposite virtues: that they are competent, stable, well informed, reliable, and rational. All the more reason, then, for us reasoning adults to protect children in the kindergarten until they reach the age of reason.” (Mayall, 2000).

Protecting children from harm, it seems, is the battle cry of parents and child advocates. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) declares that “the child, because of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth”, Article 2.2 further details, “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment based on the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child’s parents, legal guardians, or family members.”.

Of course, this overwhelming show of support for children is well-appreciated, but one consequence of this passionate pursuit of protection is that children’s rights to participate as active members of society are not given priority. “As a subordinate, and marginalized group, children find they have dubious moral status. Adult visions of adult-child relations are built from the long history of developmentalism, intersecting with ideologies and policies which stress adult socialization duties and responsibility for protection and provision; adult input rather than child agency are at the forefront of these visions. All these combine to foster adult suspicion of children – to disbelieve them, to blame them, to suspect their moral competence, to assign moral responsibility to adults rather than to children.” (Mayall, 2000).

However, in many ways, children have proven that they indeed are capable of many things originally unexpected of them. Constructivists are consistent in their belief that children’s capabilities in terms of learning can even match that of adult’s capabilities. Because of their clarity of thinking, unobstructed by pressures put on by society, they may even surpass the learning abilities of adults. “Children are seen as active and competent in their learning, fully participatory in co-constructing their learning through social interactions, as opposed to this somehow being shaped by more knowledgeable others.” (Mitchell & Wild, 2004).

To meet children’s developmental needs, the education of teachers is now emphasizing child-centered approaches. However, in practice, teachers find it difficult to apply what they have learned in university. Maryall’s text understands the plight of teachers. “Teachers in the 1990s told me they found their work nowadays uncomfortable, because they belonged to a generation educated in child-centered educational principles, but were required to implement a curriculum based on a set of ideologies that ran counter to these” (Maryall as cited in Mitchell & Wild, 2004). Studies have clearly shown that what children want above all at school is respect for themselves as persons, as active agents, as interactive agents. In other words, there is a mismatch between adult concepts and children’s understandings and experiences. (Mayall, 2006).

Indeed, the perspectives and attitudes of adults toward children built over a long period of time would be very challenging to change in a few short years.

The growing awareness that children are indeed capable of becoming contributing members of society has prompted the UK government to consult children themselves, of things that matter to them most to be the basis of proposals for change. These key outcomes—being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution, and economic well-being are detailed in the Every Child Matters report and represent a considerable shift in focus for staff providing public services for children. (Baxter & Frederickson, 2005).

Relatively simple needs and wants are difficult to provide when a lot of factors are considered, especially if these become ensconced in-laws that uphold children’s rights.

The UK is a signatory in the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. Every five years, the UK government is required to report to the UN Commission on its progress in implementing the convention in the country. It is expected that all government departments hold a responsibility to promote the convention and the five key outcomes set out in Every Child Matters. This document provides the vehicle for the delivery of the convention in the country. It widens the scope of government involvement in children’s development and challenges all those involved with children to develop effective practices in promoting positive developmental outcomes for all. Inspectors of children’s services will be looking for evidence that “Children and young people, parents and carers are involved in identifying their needs and designing services” and “Children and young people contribute to performance management and their views are listened to” (Ofsted, 2004).

As compared to many other states, the UK tends to stress parental responsibility for child welfare and advancement, with a somewhat lower role for state responsibility. Thus government emphasizes parents to be decision-makers for children, yet parents need to be taught to be good parents because the state knows better. In health care, there is perhaps a clearer understanding of parental knowledge and responsibility as health care staff learn from their interactions with mothers how knowledgeable they are (Mayall and Foster, 1989).

In the education/schooling field, parents are regarded as responsible in law for ensuring their children are educated. Choice of school is seen as a parental choice in collaboration with their children. And the education system is seen as a partnership between parents (not children) and schools. Although the introduction of home–school contracts drew attention to children’s rights and responsibilities in the triangle of school/parents/children; yet, like many an educational initiative, this one seems to be fading away and children resume their place as objects of the education system. It should be noted, however, that devolved governments in the UK have felt able to suggest basing education policies on the UNCRC (Mayall, 2006).

Children are given the same protection from domestic assault as is accorded to adults in the UK and ending the societal acceptance and legitimization of hitting children. the case on normative and empirical grounds, drawing on data from other countries which have banned the chastisement of children and on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires in Article 19 that ‘States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child’.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is often discussed in terms of its participation and protection rights. Yet, there are also important provision rights. These recognize, for example, rights to ‘the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health’ (Article 24), to ‘a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development’ (Article 27) and to education (Article 28). Full implementation of substantive as well as procedural rights would do much to improve the lives of abused children. (Hallett, 2000).

Currently, changes in viewing children as contributing members of society have begun to plant seeds of consciousness in the public. Journals such as Children and Society and Children’s Geographies are testimony to many initiatives promoting children’s participation. Gradual development in this trend over the last 25 years has been manifesting itself, starting with pioneers in social work and health care. In the late 1970s, social workers began to understand that they should pay attention to the voices of children ‘in care’ of local authorities (Page and Clark, 1977). The Gillick case (in the mid-1980s), about contraception, drew attention to children’s legitimate interest in decision-making about how they live their lives (Roche, 2002). Even in the education field, where top-down policies have been dominant for many years, there is a dawning rediscovery of an old truth: that children must be active participants in learning if learning is to take place (Joubert, 2001; DfES, 2003). The broader implications of this recognition for the organization of schools remain to be tackled (Mayall, 2006).

Seeing children as able human beings, and not inferior to adults entails a whole lot of commitment. To honor children’s participation rights, the conditions in which they can be honored must be established. Adults have to carry the work of protecting children and providing for them so that they have a securely based arena within which they may participate in working through issues that affect them (Wintersberger, 1996). The problem then lies in the control elements inherent in protection and provision. For if children are socially controlled, then their ability to participate may be limited. (Mayall, 2000).

For children to feel empowered that they are recognized as worthy citizens of society, adults would have to let go of the notions deeply entrenched in their systems that they know what is best for the child. The children’s voices need to be heard, as they should be included in decisions that involve their present and future lives.

Although life habits passed on from generations past are challenging to discard, the transition process is a good indication that adults are indeed seeing children in a more positive view. It is hoped that the empowerment of childhood comes to fruition sooner than later.

References

Baxter, J. & Frederickson, N., (2005) “Every Child Matters: Can educational psychology contribute to radical reform?” Educational Psychology in Practice, Vol 21, No. 2.

Brewer, J.A. (2001) Introduction to Early Childhood Education. Allyn & Bacon.

DfES (2003) Excellence and Enjoyment: A Strategy for Primary Schools, London, DfES.

Hallett, C., (2000) “Children’s Rights”, Child Abuse Review Vol. 9: 389–393.

Joubert, M. (2001) The art of creative teaching: NACCCE and beyond, in: A. Craft, B. Jeffrey and M. Leibling (eds) Creativity in Education, London, Continuum.

Mayall, B. (2000) “The sociology of childhood in relation to children’s rights”. The International Journal of Children’s Rights 8: 243–259.

Mayall, B. (2002), Towards a Sociology for Childhood: Thinking from Children’s Lives. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Mayall, B. (2006) “Values and Assumptions Underpinning Policy for Children and Young People in England” Children’s Geographies, Vol. 4, No. 1, 9–17.

Mayall, B. and Foster, M.-C. (1989) Child Health Care: Living with Children, Working for Children, Oxford, Heinemann.

Mitchell, H. & Wild, M. (2004) “Placing the child in childhood. “British Educational Research Journal Vol. 30, No. 5

Ofsted. (2004). Every child matters: Inspection of children’s services: Key judgments and evidence. 2007. Web.

Page, R. and Clark, G.A. (1977) Young People’s Working Group: Who Cares? Young People in Care Speak Out, London, National Children’s Bureau.

Roche, J. (2002) The Children Act 1989 and children’s rights: A critical reassessment, in B. Franklin (ed.) The New Handbook of Children’s Rights: Comparative Policy and Practice, London, Routledge.

United Nations (1989) Convention on the rights of the child (Geneva, United Nations).

Wintersberger, H. “The Ambivalence of Modern Childhood: A Plea for a European Strategy for Children”, in H. Wintersberger (ed.), Children on the Way from Marginality towards Citizenship. Childhood Policies: Conceptual and Practical Issues, Eurosocial Report 61 (Vienna: European Centre, 1996).

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The Concept of “Childhood” in Relation to Current Government Policies on Children

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