Has the position of children improved

March Of Progress View
1. Position of children in western societies has been steadily improving & now better than ever before.
2. Aires & Shorter hold this view, children are now more valued, better cared for, protected & educated.
  1. From, harm & exploitation, child abuse laws, child labour.
  2. Have professionals for education & medical needs.
3. Higher standards of living & smaller families, afford to provide for children properly.
4. Family has become child-centred. Focal point of the family, consulted on decisions. Parents invest time & money. Have high aspirations to have a better life.
5. Babies have better chance of survival due to healthcare.
6. Much media output & leisure activities are designed specifically for children. So society is also child-centred.
Conflict View
1. Age patriarchy
  1. Gittins. Describes inequalities between adults & children.
    1. Adult domination, child dependency.
  2. Sometimes children try to resist this, smoke, drink sexual activity.
  3. Power may assert itself in the form of violence.
  4. Criticisms. Children may not be able to make rational decisions, cannot safe guard themselves. Not totally powerless, as they have laws protecting them & consulting them.
2. Marxists & feminists reject the march of progress view.
  1. Inequalities among children, opportunities & risks.
  2. Children experience great control from adults.
3. Inequalities among children
  1. Different nationalities are likely to have different experiences.
  2. Hillman. Gender differences, boys more likely to cross or cycle on roads.
    1. Bonke. Girls do more domestic labour, especially in lone parent families, do 5 times the amount than boys.
  3. Brannen. Ethinic differences, Asian parents were more likely to be strict towards their daughters.
    1. Bhatti. Idea of 'family honour' can be a restriction.
  4. Class inequalities, poor mothers liekly to have low weight children causing delayed development.
  5. Woodroffe. Children of unskilled workers are 3 times more likely to be hyperactive.
  6. Howard. Poor family children, more likely to die in infancy.
4. Inequalities between children & adults
  1. Firestone & Holt, protection form paid work, is a form of inequality. Forcibly segregating children. More dependent and be controlled more.
  2. Child Liberationism
  3. Neglect & abuse. Extreme type of control. Childline gets over 20,000 calls a year. 'Dark side' to the family.
  4. Controls over their space. Highly regulated. Forbidden to play in some areas. Road safety, stranger danger.
  5. Controls over their time. Daily routines, control speed at which they grow up. Whether a child is too old, or too young for an activity. Contrasts with the Samoan view of no 'too young'.
  6. Controls over bodies. Style, sit, walk run, hair, piercings. Touched in certain ways. May be disciplined by smacking.
  7. Control over access to resources. Limited opportunities to earn money, remain dependent on adults.
    1. Labour laws & schooling, child benefit goes straight to parent, pocket money depends on behaviour (restrictions on spending.

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Has the position of children improved

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	Created by bearmanjacob almost 10 years ago