The Sinner The image of a child as sinner was common since the fourth century AD and is still existent in today’s world where christianity is still very much a practiced religion (Singapore Census of population, 2000 Advance data release No.2 – Religion, ). An innate belief of dictating obedience as children are believed to be born with original sin and thus would have to be disciplined in order to be saved, especially in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as practiced by the Puritans. Hence going to church is a vital activity and punishments would seem to be the correct way of teaching or child-rearing. According to Miller, 1987 as seen on ( Book 1, Chapter 1, pp8-9 ),it was suggested that this theory still exist today, how we as adult try to rid ourselves of the child within us in order to fit into the image of adulthood, the independent, strong and respectful being. Hence when we see this behaviour in our child, we quickly persecute them with the measure that were once used on us. According to the behaviorism theory, negative reinforcements like punishments were commonly used during those days to teach a child, obedience was very much an expectation as it believed then that the way to being good is through God.
The child as property Where poverty was considerably significant in the eighteenth and nineteenth century due to industrialization, children of tender age were forced to work in very harsh conditions and long hours as labourers or factory hands in order to help contribute to their families. For this reason, children were valued as property or seen as means of income and survival, with very little rights. General objective seem to be having more children in order to achieve further gains, in fact it became desirable for some parents to have more children as they were dependent on their wages which also resulted in factories being built that took children as their main source of labour. However this was challenged with the establishment of the factory act in 1833, which allowed children to attend half-day school and work the other half of the day.
The schooled child When education slowly gained importance over child labour, children were encouraged to go to schools. This was partially brought about by the second world war,and with the establishment of half-time schools, when school or education gained importance over work. School then became central to the images of childhood, this is done mainly by segregating children from the adult world of work.
Next, we take a look at the four most common childcare practices as mentioned above, here in Singapore and the extent of influence the images may have on such practices;
Child care centre With some more than 600 child care centres in Singapore, according to statistics, () .It is evident that this methology of child care has great significance as child care centres has grown not only in terms of numbers but as well as areas of specializations. As we trace back to the images of “The schooled child”, how going to schools and education was viewed as instrumental in child development, such humble beginnings have led to the current upward trend of the significance of our education system here in Singapore. Due economic and lifestyle factors of parents nowsadays, it is a common observation to see both parents committing to work to order to enjoy a better or more affluent lifestyle, hence resulting in reduced time to be spent with children. This is where and how child care centres gained its’ place in Singapore. Under the influence of the Piagetian theory, ( Book 1, Chapter 1, pp 46-48, Prajna das Gupta ) as we can see in today’s learning environment, especially in child care centres, where children are taught to learn while they play, explains the popularity of child care centres as well. Vygotsky’s theory of ZPD also plays a role in the rising popularity of child care centres, The “zone of proximal development” a level of development attained when children engage in social behavior can be available in child care centres where there are other children as well, to have social interaction, which focuses on environment or the world surrounding the child.
Grandparents In the middle class society of Singapore, more and more working parents need to recruit the help of grandparents to share the burden of child-rearing. Contributing to this method is largely the higher standards of living in our country where things are more expensive than they were.
Very much akin to skinner’s theory of operant conditioning (ATHERTON J S (2003) Learning and Teaching: Behaviourism [On-line] UK: Available: ) a great deal of emphasis is placed on reinforcement, be it verbal praise, a gift or simply anything that results in the desired outcome or response. , where it is believed that a person’s behaviour can be modified by reinforcement. As the saying goes, “spare the rod and spoil the child”, children need to be taught respect and obedience, these are very much the focal points of Grandparents. But nevertheless moving forward with a more educated society, this may not apply to all grandparents as the declining birthrate in Singapore is obvious in governmental statistics, grandchildren or perhaps child, pampering can also be observed in our current society. Hence some grandparents are begining to treat children like precious little gems.
Parents I refer to ( Book 1, Chapter 1, pp 44-45). The effect of parents as caretakers, rudimentary skills necessary for adult life are transmitted to the child. In our current society, advanced technologies and occupational specialization, parents recognizes the importance of having children do things for themselves, but yet this skills may be delayed until these skills are necessary or required.
For parents, the image of “The Sinner” has also impacted how parents still engage children in Sunday masses and the importance of values as imparted by religion itself are still being taught and instilled in children in Singapore. With the galore of church related activities that are still very much seen now are prepared with children in mind, to teach them through obedience to God.
Maids have taken on a significant role in child-rearing in Singapore as more parents are working, resulting in lesser time available to look after children, specifically in their daily needs and activities like, feeding, showering, playing etc... Maids being an employee of parents so to speak, tend to treat a child like miniature adults or little emperors, perhaps with the subconscious fear of getting into trouble with their employer, who are also the parents. Children in such environment are akin to the hospital bed model, where things tend to be done for them, although sometimes not because they can’t but because it was done for them out of concern.
We started this discussion by looking at the four main images as developed by famous psychologist of this field. Although without a doubt, these pre-determined images have affected our attitudes towards child-rearing, the extent of how each of these images has affected our attitudes can be reflected by relating them to the child care practices here in Singapore.
Undeniably, be it qualitative or quantitative developments, different cultural and social economic environment do affect all these theories and images of child development. As our interest become more and more significant in this subject, we do have to bear in mind that humans are constantly changing and re-shaping to adapt to the world we live in. Evidently this changes will and have affected how we as adults define and explore the different images and theories of child development. This discussion has shown development and theories that came with it, happened over centuries and many decades, I dare say that there’s more to learn as we adults constantly evolve and hence unknowingly affect our attitudes towards child care in general.
Here in Singapore, we can see how children of today are better educated in terms of academic achievements as compared to the past. All these changes or developments have been brought about by the images pre-determined by famous psychologist in some way or another. Be it whether a child is looked after by Grandparents, child care centres, maids or by parents themselves, we would all like to think it is for a good reason, to bring up smarter kids, to be more educated, to be more affluent in society, but nevertheless it is important to remember that a human brain may be the hardest to understand or to crack, what more a child’s brain.
In the References:
Declining Birthrate in Singapore from year 2000-2004
Source: CIA World Factbook ( )
Singapore's birth rate headed for a historic low this year
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories_archive/health/view/61376/1/.html