Toxic Childhood: How The Modern World Is Damaging Our Children And What We Can Do About It

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There are significant inequalities between children, so if there has been progress for some, there certainly has not been equal progress. This is effectively the introduction of national primary education in Britain, although it wasn’t made compulsory for all 5-12-year olds until 1880, and the quality of education could be very poor indeed in some areas until the Education Reform Act of 1944. The 1878 Factories and Workshop Act The Punishment of Incest Act was introduced in the same year – this made sexual abuse within families a matter for state intervention and punishment, previous to this the Church had been responsible for dealing with this. 1918 – School Leaving Age Raised to 14 The 1944 Education Act The Children Act (2004) initiated the influential policy of 'every child matters' that focused on the well-being of people from birth to 18 years old. This emphasises ‘better outcomes’ for children, namely a healthy, safe and economically sound life. An earlier version of this Act was brought in place in 1989.

Today, children can only work full-time from the age of 16, and then they must do training with that employment. Full adult working rights only apply from the age of 18. Without concerted action, our children’s physical and mental health will continue to deteriorate, with long-term results for UK society that are frankly unthinkable. The view in the question is associated with the ‘ March of Progress view’ of childhood – that society and the family have both become more child centred.Since, as the round-robin asserts, contemporary children have their own different, besetting troubles (particularly of the kind depicted in Jacqueline Wilson's fiction), it is regrettable that its exaggerations and doomy style, impartially denouncing the pressure on children to "dress like mini-adults" (like the Tudors) along with test-driven education and a "hyper-competitive culture", have such a strong whiff of moral panic. Although this probably explains its allure to the Daily Telegraph, which has only just done hymning the Dangerous Book for Boys. Children use to be perceived as people who needed to bring money into the family home. Today adults are happy to spend more money on children. Changes such as those outlined above suggest our society has become more child centred over the last century or so. Children today occupy a more central role than ever. The government and parents spend more money on children than ever and children are the ‘primary concern’ of many public services and often the sole thing that gives meaning to the lives of many parents.

As I say, I don’t understand how the State can legally sanction violence against children, but that’s life in an underdeveloped country such as America I guess! Ritualised Violence against girls Child and adult worlds are separated – they have different social spaces – playground and school for children, work and pubs for adults. Sue Palmer’s (2006) book Toxic Childhood argued that children were being harmed by a combination of technological and social changes such as increasingly screen based lifestyles, a hyper-competitive education system, the decline of outdoor play and the commercialisation of childhood.

Childhood as a Social Construct - Key takeaways

According to Neil Postman (1982, 1994), television has exposed children to the adult world. Childhood is "disappearing at a dazzling speed" due to early access to media. Children are exposed to information not appropriate for them, diminishing their innocence. The number of children estimated to be behind with language and communication skills in England and Wales increased to 1.9 million in 2023, up from 1.7 million in the previous year. Point 3 – Parents spend more time with their children. Analysis – Sociologists such as Furedi suggest this is a negative side of the ‘child centred’ family – Helicopter parents, cotton wool kids who are dependent and anxious – resulting in Kidults. When boys reach the age of puberty they have to go through a ritual to become men. The main event in this ritual (for the boys at least) involves jumping over some cattle four times. Once a boy has done this, he is officially a man.

Below is a timeline of some of the social policies which changed childhood, from the early 19th century through to the present day. The 1870 Education Act introduced Education for all children aged 5-12, although this was voluntary at the time.Professor Guy Claxton Emeritus professor of the learning sciences, author of Building Learning Power