How To Explore Historical Attitudes Towards Children
This account will briefly explore historical attitudes towards children. It will also in more detail, explore attitudes surrounding childhood in the late eighties and nineties. It will also look into the interaction between class, gender, ethnicity, rights and childhood. I grew up in a London suburb in late eighties and nineties. I lived with parents and two younger brothers and I will use my childhood experiences to support the account. Modern understandings of childhood are full of ideologies. These ideologies have been born from assumptions by adults who are unable to reflect on childhood effectively. ‘The ending of childhood is inevitability suffused with loss, not least the loss of any ability to witness those years with clarity.’(Brooks,
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2006, p.4) Over time childhood has acquired many facets including the natural and vulnerable child of Rousseau in the eighteenth century, to the romantic child who interacted with their society. More recently children have become the educated child and the child of the welfare state.
Combined together these facets have created confusion and conflicting ideas of what a child and childhood is. ‘Childhood has become the crucible into which is ground each and every adult anxiety – about sex, consumerism, technology, safety, achievement, respect, the proper shape of a life.’ (Brooks, 2006, p.16) The child as a universal concept is problematic because depending on many factors ‘the child’ is living in different social contexts that could be seen as his or her childhood. The United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989) is the most ratified convention in the world. However the CRC assumes a universal understanding of the child again based on adult understanding of childhood. Although Britain ratified to the CRC in 1991, it has been criticised heavily for preserving the right of parents and carers to physically chastise their children. During my childhood I was only smacked three times. My mother was smacked as a child regularly and I think this is why she almost always restrained from smacking me. So although physical chastisement has not been outlawed the education surrounding it is had already started to filter through to younger
generations. In the United Kingdom children are disadvantaged members of society, seen as second rate citizens whose decisions are made by two institutions, the state or family. They are viewed as incompetent in many ways Children are oppressed by
1
adults who dictate what is in their best interests. (Oakley,2004 p.16). According to Archard (1993) there are three elements to the liberal standard, which are the relations between the state, family and child. The issue of who knew what was best for children, the state or the family and when and if the state should intervene, was predominate in my childhood. The state is largely governed by white, middle class males who believe that children are mostly best in the care of the family and the family have the right to privacy in this. The state however makes the decisions when to intervene as they might know what is in the best interests for the child in some occasions. The family are usually from the same social context as far as being the same ethnicity, social class and locality. However they lack the same basic identity of being a child. The family can be defined as many things by many different people which is in itself problematic. In many situations neither the state nor the family know what is best for children. Sometimes children know what is best for them and they have the right under the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child 1989 to be heard in decisions involving them. (Unicef, 2008) Disabled children are considered ‘children in need’ from diagnosis. Since the Children Act 1989 (Great Britain. Children Act 1989) the local authority has been responsible for children in need. This was relevant to my social context because my brothers have Autism and my childhood involved social services so we lost the privacy of the family. As a young carer I had increased responsibility to my brothers. After my brother was diagnosed, I noticed people started to have different attitudes to me. In many cases I believe people thought my childhood was forfeited and I had become a victim who needed pity. The role of a young carer could be affected by gender. As Mayall (1994 p.13) points out females traditionally have been expected to care for the young in society. It could be argued that had my gender role been a masculine one, I would not have been expected to have taken an active role in the care of my brother. As Barthew (1993, p.53) explains that toys for girls often prepare and manipulate them ready for domestic life, my role as a young carer did the same. However I was extremely defensive of my brother as a child and this is a trait typically associated with masculinity. As Taylor (1999 p.5) claims both females and males develop roles that can be seen as both masculine and feminine as part of the socialisation process.
2
Experiences of childhood can be affected by social class. The notion of class in Britain has been predominate for many years. Historically the lower class had higher rates of infant mortality and social mobility was extremely difficult. By the 1990’s the British class system was an open system of stratification. This meant that although parents of children born in the nineties were a certain class they could change class as they got older, however it was still difficult. In nineties Britain education was compulsory and state funded. Education in the Victorian era was something that only the upper classes could afford, and it was only boys that were sent to school (Alvarado, M et al, 1987,p.231). I had a middle class upbringing and my parents had certain aspirations for me that reflected their own. I was expected to do well at school and eventually get a degree; I had a private tutor and attended Saturday school. I was a member of many private clubs including gymnastics, Brownies, Woodcraft Folk and my local swimming club. Although as a family we did not go on holiday abroad because of fears for my brother, my summers were rarely spent in London. I took a friend camping in Southwold and I was shocked to learn she had never been outside of London before that. However child poverty in late nineties Britain was a pressing issue, having one of the worst rates in child poverty in the developed world. ‘In 1997 between onequarter and one-third of children - 3 to 4 million children, depending on the measure of income used - were living in households in relative poverty’ (Joseph Rowntree Foundation,2003) In 1999 the Labour government pledged to reduce child poverty by a half over ten years, eventually eradicating it by 2020. I was lucky enough to have a financially stable upbringing and I was aware of it at the time. My childhood was made up of diverse people from all backgrounds and my parents educated me well on social issues. Being white British I am not an ethnic minority. However my local primary school had very few white British pupils. ‘Culture the values, beliefs, customs and behaviours that distinguish a group of people’ (Stretch,B and Whitehouse,M, 2007) Being a different race, having a different heritage and not speaking the same language my parents decided that the pupils and I had profound cultural differences which may have affected my holistic development and opted for a school that had a more balanced pupil ethnicity. My parents sent me to another school and to be in the catchment area we had to move house. This is true of many white families living in
3
Newham at the time, particularly the area we lived in. In the nineties there was focus on how ethnic minorities were victims of institutionalised racism. These ethnic minorities were understood as the non whites. However in my case as a child I was the ethnic minority in my locality. Childhood in late nineteen eighties and nineties Britain as this account has illustrated was different for each child. However the quality of life as far as education, health and poverty were better than those of previous years but as the UNCRC highlighted Britain still had unresolved matters like child poverty.
4
2006, p.4) Over time childhood has acquired many facets including the natural and vulnerable child of Rousseau in the eighteenth century, to the romantic child who interacted with their society. More recently children have become the educated child and the child of the welfare state.
Combined together these facets have created confusion and conflicting ideas of what a child and childhood is. ‘Childhood has become the crucible into which is ground each and every adult anxiety – about sex, consumerism, technology, safety, achievement, respect, the proper shape of a life.’ (Brooks, 2006, p.16) The child as a universal concept is problematic because depending on many factors ‘the child’ is living in different social contexts that could be seen as his or her childhood. The United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989) is the most ratified convention in the world. However the CRC assumes a universal understanding of the child again based on adult understanding of childhood. Although Britain ratified to the CRC in 1991, it has been criticised heavily for preserving the right of parents and carers to physically chastise their children. During my childhood I was only smacked three times. My mother was smacked as a child regularly and I think this is why she almost always restrained from smacking me. So although physical chastisement has not been outlawed the education surrounding it is had already started to filter through to younger
generations. In the United Kingdom children are disadvantaged members of society, seen as second rate citizens whose decisions are made by two institutions, the state or family. They are viewed as incompetent in many ways Children are oppressed by
1
adults who dictate what is in their best interests. (Oakley,2004 p.16). According to Archard (1993) there are three elements to the liberal standard, which are the relations between the state, family and child. The issue of who knew what was best for children, the state or the family and when and if the state should intervene, was predominate in my childhood. The state is largely governed by white, middle class males who believe that children are mostly best in the care of the family and the family have the right to privacy in this. The state however makes the decisions when to intervene as they might know what is in the best interests for the child in some occasions. The family are usually from the same social context as far as being the same ethnicity, social class and locality. However they lack the same basic identity of being a child. The family can be defined as many things by many different people which is in itself problematic. In many situations neither the state nor the family know what is best for children. Sometimes children know what is best for them and they have the right under the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child 1989 to be heard in decisions involving them. (Unicef, 2008) Disabled children are considered ‘children in need’ from diagnosis. Since the Children Act 1989 (Great Britain. Children Act 1989) the local authority has been responsible for children in need. This was relevant to my social context because my brothers have Autism and my childhood involved social services so we lost the privacy of the family. As a young carer I had increased responsibility to my brothers. After my brother was diagnosed, I noticed people started to have different attitudes to me. In many cases I believe people thought my childhood was forfeited and I had become a victim who needed pity. The role of a young carer could be affected by gender. As Mayall (1994 p.13) points out females traditionally have been expected to care for the young in society. It could be argued that had my gender role been a masculine one, I would not have been expected to have taken an active role in the care of my brother. As Barthew (1993, p.53) explains that toys for girls often prepare and manipulate them ready for domestic life, my role as a young carer did the same. However I was extremely defensive of my brother as a child and this is a trait typically associated with masculinity. As Taylor (1999 p.5) claims both females and males develop roles that can be seen as both masculine and feminine as part of the socialisation process.
2
Experiences of childhood can be affected by social class. The notion of class in Britain has been predominate for many years. Historically the lower class had higher rates of infant mortality and social mobility was extremely difficult. By the 1990’s the British class system was an open system of stratification. This meant that although parents of children born in the nineties were a certain class they could change class as they got older, however it was still difficult. In nineties Britain education was compulsory and state funded. Education in the Victorian era was something that only the upper classes could afford, and it was only boys that were sent to school (Alvarado, M et al, 1987,p.231). I had a middle class upbringing and my parents had certain aspirations for me that reflected their own. I was expected to do well at school and eventually get a degree; I had a private tutor and attended Saturday school. I was a member of many private clubs including gymnastics, Brownies, Woodcraft Folk and my local swimming club. Although as a family we did not go on holiday abroad because of fears for my brother, my summers were rarely spent in London. I took a friend camping in Southwold and I was shocked to learn she had never been outside of London before that. However child poverty in late nineties Britain was a pressing issue, having one of the worst rates in child poverty in the developed world. ‘In 1997 between onequarter and one-third of children - 3 to 4 million children, depending on the measure of income used - were living in households in relative poverty’ (Joseph Rowntree Foundation,2003) In 1999 the Labour government pledged to reduce child poverty by a half over ten years, eventually eradicating it by 2020. I was lucky enough to have a financially stable upbringing and I was aware of it at the time. My childhood was made up of diverse people from all backgrounds and my parents educated me well on social issues. Being white British I am not an ethnic minority. However my local primary school had very few white British pupils. ‘Culture the values, beliefs, customs and behaviours that distinguish a group of people’ (Stretch,B and Whitehouse,M, 2007) Being a different race, having a different heritage and not speaking the same language my parents decided that the pupils and I had profound cultural differences which may have affected my holistic development and opted for a school that had a more balanced pupil ethnicity. My parents sent me to another school and to be in the catchment area we had to move house. This is true of many white families living in
3
Newham at the time, particularly the area we lived in. In the nineties there was focus on how ethnic minorities were victims of institutionalised racism. These ethnic minorities were understood as the non whites. However in my case as a child I was the ethnic minority in my locality. Childhood in late nineteen eighties and nineties Britain as this account has illustrated was different for each child. However the quality of life as far as education, health and poverty were better than those of previous years but as the UNCRC highlighted Britain still had unresolved matters like child poverty.
4