Childhood as a social construct

There's a reason kids don't go up chimneys anymore (mostly)

What does Ariés say in his book “centuries of childhood” about, well, childhood?

Prior to roughly the 1600s, childhood was a nonexistent concept (people went from baby to small adult). Even then, only the upper classes had access to childhood back then, it wasn’t until the 1800s/1900s that the middle and working classes were able to access it too.

What is often the main reason for a lack of a social construction of childhood (and how has this been tackled)?

Child labour (via apprentices or family effort during substinence farming and later during the industrial revolution). Child protection legislation such as 1819’s factory act attempt to tackle this by increasing the minimum age of employment and reducing hours for underage workers.

How has healthcare changed our views on age?

Good healthcare has increased the life expectancy massively. Consequently, young deaths (i.e. under 50) are more of a shock- particularly child deaths in the west as factors such as child labour have been mostly removed.

What did the Human rights watch find about the number of child soldiers in 2007? (child soldiers are an example of childhood not existing as a construct in some places)

There were 200,000-300,000 child soldiers worldwide- half of which were in Africa.

Legislation determines how we perceive age- what examples show this? (5)

Drinking age, age of consent, voting age, marriage age, military service age.

What shows the institutionalisation of age?

Birthdays and other culture specific rituals such as a quinceanera or a bar mitzvah.