Discuss the view that childhood is a Social Construction?

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Discuss the view that childhood is a Social Construction?

The social construction of childhood means that childhood is not natural because it is a concept that has different meanings in different societies. Sociologists agree that children are biologically different to adults but every society gives these biological differences different meanings.

Aries, a interactionist says that the 19th century Britain, before industrialisation children were seen as mini adults because they dressed like their parents and did the same work on the farm as their parents.

Aries says that after industrialisation, children became different to adults because children had to go to school between the ages of 5 and 11 and so children were financially dependent on their parents until the age of 11 when they were allowed to go to work and this period of dependency created the concept of childhood.

Today, families in Britain are very child centred because couples have fewer children. Gitten says that children have become a luxury and the parents talk about 'being able to afford a child' because children can cost over £100,000 to raise.

Musgrove, a Functionalist says that children today are of no economic use because