Outline and explain 2 arguments for changes in the status of childhood [10 MARKS]

The march of progress view argues that childhood has improved with De Mause (1974) stating that “the history of childhood is a nightmare from which we have only recently begun to awaken”. He points to the higher levels of abuse in the past to suggest that children now have a much better life with protection by the law and social services. Levels of child labour have also been reduced by laws against it as well as increased affluence meaning that families are no longer reliant on their children for financial support. This has resulted in a smaller, more child-centric family with children being more cared for and parents able to afford to provide for their children’s needs, allowing them to go to school and have greater opportunities for the future. It is not only the family that has become more child centred, but the whole of society with there now being more leisure activities and media outlets aimed specifically at children.
Critics of this view state that childhood has become worse. Adults have control over children’s space, created by rules forbidding them from some places as well as controlling their time through laws of compulsory education until the age of 18. Because of this, children have very little freedom over how they live their life. Hugh Cunningham (2007) found that the ‘home habitat’ of 8 year olds (how far from home they are allowed to go alone) has decreased to 1/9th of what it was 25 years ago. Sue Palmer (2006) also sees childhood as having worsened and states that children are now experiencing a toxic childhood due to the increase in junk food and computer games along with extensive marketing towards children. She argues that childhood is no longer innocent and protected and children’s emotional and intellectual wellbeing has been harmed by the rapid technological and cultural advancements.