PP0618: Drawing on Evidence from Your Studies and Research, Critically Evaluate the Future of “Childhood”: Changing Childhoods Essay, NU, Singapore

Question 2 – Drawing on evidence from your studies and research, critically evaluate the future of “childhood” as a concept.

Introduction

This essay aims to examine the constructions of childhood in the years to come. Based on UNICEF, childhood means a lot more than just the space between birth and the attainment of adulthood. It is a precious time where children should live free from fear, safe from violence, and protected from abuse and exploitation.

Concepts of Childhood

Childhood, as gained from John Locke’s idea that a person’s brain right at birth is a “blank paper”, where tabula rasa comes in and refers to which touches on their life experiences gaining through the five senses. According to John Locke, he has an insight that children are individuals with distinct characters but strongly highlights the nurturing responsibilities, parents getting more involved and educate using the development of an upright intelligence. (Godbout, 2017).

Piaget – Piaget’s theory is that children develop by acting as “little scientists” who explore and interact with their world to understand people, objects, and concepts. They do this naturally, even without the help of an adult (Kandola, 2019). Piaget’s theory is unique as it only focuses on the child’s development instead of gaining knowledge. Children based on their own understanding and connections from the outside world rather than the experiences which they have known or discover from their background environment.

Key Themes and Discourses

The first theme is sexualisation. According to the American Psychological Association, sexualization occurs when “individuals are regarded as sex objects and evaluated in terms of their physical characteristics and sexiness. But the popular culture seems increasingly accepting of the sexualization of children.

• Romantic discourse
• Examples: clothing–including thong underwear, Fashion dolls, beauty pageants for little girls

The second theme is migration.

• Romantic or tabula rasa discourse
• Examples: still researching