Item A. Sociologists argue there is no set definition of childhood; instead, they see society as creating
a distinction between the role of children and the role of adults. Over the last 50 years there have
been major changes in the position of children in society.
Using material from item and elsewhere evaluate changes in childhood over the last 50 years or so
(20 marks)
Intro: Childhood has had significant changes over the last 50 years or so such as the end or
disappearance of childhood (Postman), toxic childhood (Palmer), Childhood in a postmodern society
(Jenks) and the commercialisation of childhood.
Paragraph 1: There have been changes in childhood since 1994 because Postman argues that
childhood is ‘disappearing at a dazzled speed’. This is because he states that there is now a trend
towards giving children the same rights as adults and the information hierarchy has broken down.
Consequently, this leads to children now working jobs and also leading the disappearance of
children’s unsupervised games and the growing similarity of adults’ and children’s clothing. Another
consequence of this is children have more access to information than they are used to, for example,
images of war which children didn’t have access to this previously due to the information hierarchy
being broken down and globalisation and the increased access and spread of social media and this
was only accessible to adults so by them having access to it, shows that they are becoming very
similar to adults, therefore childhood is disappearing. However, Opie argues that childhood isn’t
disappearing, rather it still exists but just in a different culture so things and activities children have
and experience will be different.
Paragraph 2: Another change in childhood over the last 50 years or so is childhood in a postmodern
society. Jenks argues that childhood is not disappearing, rather it’s changing. Jenks states that
modern society was concerned with ‘futurity’ and childhood is seen as preparing an individual to be
a productive adult in the future. This illustrates and suggests childhood isn’t disappearing but it is
just changing as childhood is just preparing a child for being a productive and successful in the future
which is clearly has a positive impact on the future generation. However, evidence both supporting
Jenks is very limited because even the evidence that supports Jenks comes from small,
unrepresentative studies which means it lacks validity.
Paragraph 3: Toxic childhood (Palmer) was also a significant change in childhood that occurred over
the last 50 years or so. Palmer argues that due to the rapid technological and cultural changes in the
past 25 years have damaged children’s physical, emotional and intellectual development. Examples
of these changes include junk food, computer games and intensive market to children and growing
emphasis on testing in education. This is significant and illustrates toxic childhood because due to all
of these changes, it damages children’s emotional, physical and intellectual development which is
very harmful and detrimental to children’s health, not allowing them to have a fulfilled childhood.
However, in comparison to the previous time period (19th century) , this may be very different but
there may be limited evidence to support this and show that toxic childhood occurs in the 21st
century.
Paragraph 4: The commercialisation of childhood is another significant change in childhood over the
last 50 years or so. Children are being targeting as consumers through adverts of toys and products
that children are interested and would want to buy. Consequently, due to the commercialisation of
childhood it causes the family to be a unit of consumption as Zaretsky states because since children
want products such as toys, families purchase these products from these companies, allowing them
to gain a mass amount of profit, keeping their business going and therefore allowing capitalism to be
maintained which shows how childhood has changed over the last 50 years or so as this didn’t occur
a distinction between the role of children and the role of adults. Over the last 50 years there have
been major changes in the position of children in society.
Using material from item and elsewhere evaluate changes in childhood over the last 50 years or so
(20 marks)
Intro: Childhood has had significant changes over the last 50 years or so such as the end or
disappearance of childhood (Postman), toxic childhood (Palmer), Childhood in a postmodern society
(Jenks) and the commercialisation of childhood.
Paragraph 1: There have been changes in childhood since 1994 because Postman argues that
childhood is ‘disappearing at a dazzled speed’. This is because he states that there is now a trend
towards giving children the same rights as adults and the information hierarchy has broken down.
Consequently, this leads to children now working jobs and also leading the disappearance of
children’s unsupervised games and the growing similarity of adults’ and children’s clothing. Another
consequence of this is children have more access to information than they are used to, for example,
images of war which children didn’t have access to this previously due to the information hierarchy
being broken down and globalisation and the increased access and spread of social media and this
was only accessible to adults so by them having access to it, shows that they are becoming very
similar to adults, therefore childhood is disappearing. However, Opie argues that childhood isn’t
disappearing, rather it still exists but just in a different culture so things and activities children have
and experience will be different.
Paragraph 2: Another change in childhood over the last 50 years or so is childhood in a postmodern
society. Jenks argues that childhood is not disappearing, rather it’s changing. Jenks states that
modern society was concerned with ‘futurity’ and childhood is seen as preparing an individual to be
a productive adult in the future. This illustrates and suggests childhood isn’t disappearing but it is
just changing as childhood is just preparing a child for being a productive and successful in the future
which is clearly has a positive impact on the future generation. However, evidence both supporting
Jenks is very limited because even the evidence that supports Jenks comes from small,
unrepresentative studies which means it lacks validity.
Paragraph 3: Toxic childhood (Palmer) was also a significant change in childhood that occurred over
the last 50 years or so. Palmer argues that due to the rapid technological and cultural changes in the
past 25 years have damaged children’s physical, emotional and intellectual development. Examples
of these changes include junk food, computer games and intensive market to children and growing
emphasis on testing in education. This is significant and illustrates toxic childhood because due to all
of these changes, it damages children’s emotional, physical and intellectual development which is
very harmful and detrimental to children’s health, not allowing them to have a fulfilled childhood.
However, in comparison to the previous time period (19th century) , this may be very different but
there may be limited evidence to support this and show that toxic childhood occurs in the 21st
century.
Paragraph 4: The commercialisation of childhood is another significant change in childhood over the
last 50 years or so. Children are being targeting as consumers through adverts of toys and products
that children are interested and would want to buy. Consequently, due to the commercialisation of
childhood it causes the family to be a unit of consumption as Zaretsky states because since children
want products such as toys, families purchase these products from these companies, allowing them
to gain a mass amount of profit, keeping their business going and therefore allowing capitalism to be
maintained which shows how childhood has changed over the last 50 years or so as this didn’t occur
