Assess the Argument That Modern Childhood Is a ‘March of Progress
Assess the argument that modern childhood is a ‘March of Progress’ (24 marks)
The march of progress, traditionally depicting a compressed presentation of 25 million years of human evolution, can be applied to sociologists view on childhood- is it ‘evolving’ for the better? The ‘March of progress’ view argues that, over the past few centuries, childhood in western societies has been improving steadily, and is even better than ever today. We can then go onto say that the ‘march of progress’ evidently paints a bad picture of the past; as Lloyd De Mause puts it- “The history of childhood is a nightmare from which we have only begun to awaken. The further back in history one goes, the lower the level of childcare, and the more likely children are to be killed, abandoned, beaten, terrorised and sexually abused.”
Writers like Aries and Shorter look on from this dark past, and hold to the belief that children are more valued, better cared for, protected & educated, enjoy better health and have a lot more rights than previous generations.
On the other hand, certain sociologists would disagree with this; for example, Sue Palmers. Her view uplifts the concept of “The Five Finger Exercise”; the belief that ‘language, love, education, play & discipline’ are what children crucially need for healthy development. In her opinion, children in the UK today are going through, what she calls, ‘toxic childhood’- in the past 25 years, children’s physical, emotional and academic development have been effected and damaged by rapid technological and cultural changes. These ‘changes’ include emphasis on testing in education, computer games, junk food, intensive marketing on children, even the long hours parents work. All of these factors (which weren’t as dominant in society, in the past) have negative effects i.e. an increase in child obesity.
Neil Postman has a similar negative opinion on childhood- he stated that childhood is ‘disappearing at a dazzling speed’. In contrast to
The march of progress, traditionally depicting a compressed presentation of 25 million years of human evolution, can be applied to sociologists view on childhood- is it ‘evolving’ for the better? The ‘March of progress’ view argues that, over the past few centuries, childhood in western societies has been improving steadily, and is even better than ever today. We can then go onto say that the ‘march of progress’ evidently paints a bad picture of the past; as Lloyd De Mause puts it- “The history of childhood is a nightmare from which we have only begun to awaken. The further back in history one goes, the lower the level of childcare, and the more likely children are to be killed, abandoned, beaten, terrorised and sexually abused.”
Writers like Aries and Shorter look on from this dark past, and hold to the belief that children are more valued, better cared for, protected & educated, enjoy better health and have a lot more rights than previous generations.
On the other hand, certain sociologists would disagree with this; for example, Sue Palmers. Her view uplifts the concept of “The Five Finger Exercise”; the belief that ‘language, love, education, play & discipline’ are what children crucially need for healthy development. In her opinion, children in the UK today are going through, what she calls, ‘toxic childhood’- in the past 25 years, children’s physical, emotional and academic development have been effected and damaged by rapid technological and cultural changes. These ‘changes’ include emphasis on testing in education, computer games, junk food, intensive marketing on children, even the long hours parents work. All of these factors (which weren’t as dominant in society, in the past) have negative effects i.e. an increase in child obesity.
Neil Postman has a similar negative opinion on childhood- he stated that childhood is ‘disappearing at a dazzling speed’. In contrast to