1.1 Introduction 1.2 Being a Child 1.3 The Socio-Cultural Context of Childhood 1.3.1 Gender 1.3.2 Social Class 1.3.3 Religion 1.3.4 Family Structure and Interrelationships 1.3.5 Ecological Contexts 1.4 Summing Up 1.5 Glossary 1.6 Aswers to Check Your Props Exercises
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Can you recollect some of the incidents of your childhood and your thoughts and
feelings as a child? Some happenings stand out in one’s memory, others are hazy and
some are forgotten. This Unit aims to recapture some of the experiences and feelings of a child. There are many similarities among children. but each child’s experience of childhood is a different one. An understanding about children helps in interacting with
them and is basic to organizing services and programmes for them. Objectives
After studying this Unit, you should be able to:
describe some experiences and characteristics common to children studying
discuss how different socio-cultural settings influence the experience of childhood
Mala, an active five year old girl, is served roti and potato curry for lunch. The curry
has rai seeds in it. During the course of the meal she sees a rai seed, takes it out of the
bowl and starts to play with it. She puts it on the sable, moves i about, and says, “Look
mummy, this is a tiny ball. I wonder if the ants play with this ball!”
Three year old Manoj , t0 his amazement, sees that there is now an infant brother in the
house with whom he has to share his parents’ love and attention. He does not like the
situation very much, but he tries to accept his brother and be friendly with him One
day, when the mother was late in getting ready because of the baby, Manoj remarked
vehemently, “Mummy, let’s give the baby away, then we will not be late.
Tara is going to be four. She enjoys playing in the rain as most children do. One rainy
day, she was playing outside and the members of the family were sitting together in a
room. After every few minutes Tara would come laughing into the room, hug her curs
and go out again to continue her play. On being invited to sit with the rest she would
protest, “No, no! I want to play outside.” This continued for quite some time.
These anecdotes reveal the feelings and playfulness characteristic of children. It is only
child who can see a ball in a rai seed or pretend that a ball of mud is a piece of cake
and a tin box is a toy house. Make-believe comes easily to them and they endow
objects with qualities they do not actually have just as Mala did. In the second anecdote
is reflected the reaction of the child to the birth of a sibling which is ambivalent and
may range from jealousy and dislike to joyful acceptance. The third anecdote reflects the child’s early steps towards being on her own. She is realizing that she can do things by
herself and does not always need to have the protection of adults. However, while she is learning to be independent, she needs to reassure herself of the presence of loved and trusted persons. This she does by coming inside now and then.
Views that adults have about children’s capacities may not always be right. It is often
assumed that a child does not know what is happening around her and cannot make
sense of events. This is not true. It is also felt that children begin to think and
understand when they begin to speak. But we do know that infants understand many
words before that period. Some people expect children to run errands, look after
themselves and start attending school without emotional or other support from adults.
On the other hand, some think that children are immature, irrational, inaccurate in
their understanding of events and therefore, cannot do any task given to them.
Adults sometimes wrongly believe that nothing of consequence happens during
childhood.
Children have thoughts and emotions just as adults do, though they view the world in a
different way and their ways of expressing feelings are also different. A newborm can
sense feelings of love and affection by the way the parents hold her and look after her
needs. An eight month old child is able to comprehend a scolding or an endearment
even though she is not able to talk. She also understands and responds to sentences like,
“Give it to me” and “No, don’t do that.” If a game of peek-a-boo is played with a
10 month old child, she participates in the game by looking for the person and
anticipating her appearance. This reflects that the child is thinking. Achievements such
as these may seem very simple, but you have only to observe a child who has just
learnt to walk to see how gleefully she walks around the house for the pleasure of it
and bow she picks herself up again after falling down. Notice how she takes a few bold
steps and then looks back at the mother for reassurance. You would have observed
many instances, where the child is learning and developing. Do they not bring forth a
picture of children as intelligent beings and of childhood a valuable time for
learning? Childhood is also a period when the child learns to form relationships with
people-first with parents, then with the wider family circle and later with other
adults and children. This requires considerable courage and confidence. Imagine what
you would feel if you shifted to a new town and had to make friends with new
people.
Children are keen to explore the world and are untiringly curious. Exploration and
questioning are the ways through which children learn. It is often difficult to make a
child sit still for even five minutes. They like to examine things and objects around
them. A new object is thumped, squeezed, banged, licked and often dismantled in an
“Aha! A new toy ”
attempt to examine it Notice the rapt look on the child’s face as she does so! Any new
event of experience brings forth a stream of “why?”, “how?” and “when?” so that the
child’s questions often tax the adult’s patience.
Children are fascinated by the adult world. Their desire is to be like adults in many
ways and to grow up as quickly as possible. They imitate the adults and pretend to be
like them by wearing their clothes and trying to talk and act like them. Some of the
games of children such as “Doctor-Doctor” and “Police-Thief” reflect their imitation of
the activities of adults.
All is not fun and play in childhood, as many adults tend to think. Children also learn
that many things are forbidden — they must not touch something, they must not bit other
children, they must stop playing after a specific time and so on. Many of the
instructions they are required to follow seem unreasonable to them. There often follows
a battle of wills between the parents and children. Learning to obey a rule is sometimes
painful because it prevents children from doing what they want to do. During the period
of childhood they also learn the ways of eating, dressing, talking and behaving
considered appropriate in their society and culture.
Children from diverse backgrounds, regions and countries are similar in many ways.
Many experiences of childhood are universal and an inevitable part of growing up.
However, childhood has a different meaning for every chid. In the next Section you
will read what makes childhood a different experience for each child.
Check Your Progress Exercise 1 1) From your experiences and recollections note down an example of one of the following in the space provided beiow. a) Children’s curiosity b) Children’s imitation of adults
Answer:
a) Children’s curiosity(ପିଲାମାନଙ୍କର କତୁହଳ |)
The more curious a child is, the more he learns. Nurturing your child’s curiosity is one of the most important ways you can help her become a lifelong learner.
Babies are born learners, with a natural curiosity to figure out how the world works. Curiosity is the desire to learn. It is an eagerness to explore, discover and figure things out.
Parents and caregivers don’t have to “make” their children curious or “push” their children to learn. In fact, research shows that it is a child’s internal desire to learn (their curiosity), not external pressure, that motivates him to seek out new experiences and leads to greater success in school over the long term.
Curiosity is something all babies are born with. They come into the world with a drive to understand how the world works:
A newborn follows sounds, faces and interesting objects with her eyes.
An 8-month-old shakes a rattle and then puts it into his mouth to see what this object can do.
A toddler takes a stool to reach the countertop where the phone is—a “toy” she loves to play with.
A 2-year-old pretends she is the garbage collector and puts all her stuffed animals into the laundry basket “garbage truck” to figure out what it feels like to be in the other person’s shoes.
b) Children’s imitation of adults(ବୟସ୍କମାନଙ୍କ ପିଲାମାନଙ୍କର ଅନୁକରଣ |)
One of our biggest responsibilities is to be a good example to our children. This is because children, especially during the first 5 years of life, imitate everything they see in adults.
For better or for worse, children imitate adults. Almost without us realizing it, their small eyes study and hone in on us, working in behaviors, copying gestures, and internalizing words, expressions, and even roles. We know that children will never be exact copies of their parents
Children don’t only imitate their parents. As we well know, they don’t simply experience isolated scenarios. Nowadays, they have more social stimulation than ever, and even “models” outside their own home or school. We also can’t forget television and those new technologies they use from a very early age.
Everything they see, hear, and happens around them influences them. We adults make up that vast theater of characters that they imitate and that will influence their conduct and even their way of understanding the world. More on this later.
1.3THE SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT OF CHILDHOOD
(1.3 ଶିଶୁଙ୍କ ସାମାଜିକ-ସାଂସ୍କୃତିକ ଯୋଗାଯୋଗ |)
Normally, all children learn to speak a language during the course of growing up. A two
year old in India learns to speak her own language while a child in Spain learns Spanish. One boy at the age of five begins going to a school; another of the same age in a tribal settlement helps his father in farming and milking the buffalo; yet another is
adept at moving through the traffic on the roads to sell newspaper. The number of people in the family, the customs, traditions, values and beliefs of the family and community, economic status, residence in a village, a city, or a tribal settlement, whether in the hills, plains, deserts or sea coast-these are some of the factors that influence childhood experiences.Thus the society one lives in determines one’s experience of childhood.This is what is meant by the socio-cultural context of childhood.
Though we can speak broadly of the Indian culture and the values therein, the customs,
beliefs and the way of life of people differ from one group to another. One cannot
speak of a homogeneous or uniform Indian culture but rather of sub-cultural groups,
each distinct from the other. This is because the groups differ with regard to economic level, education, occupation, region, language and religion. The child’s experiences and what she learns during this period would be different in each of these groups. You will
now read about the many factors that bring about variations in children’s experiences.
1.3.1 Gender A major factor which determines a child’s experience is whether the child is a boy or a girl. How one is brought up, the opportunities available to one and the way people
interact with one are determined to a great extent by one’s gender. An obvious
difference is in the clothes worm. Less visible but more far reaching in its impact is the
differing attitude towards boys and girls. There is no doubt that in most parts of our country boys are given more importance than girls. The birth of a boy is an occasion for rejoicing while, in many cases, the birth of a girl reduces the parents to tears. In many families girls may receive very little parental love, attention or care. They may get a lesser share of food, clothing and other resources compared to boys. In some families,
when a girl falls ill it is treated casually but the boy’s illness. gets prompt attention. Education is considered more important for boys than for girls. Parents often sell their assets to educate their sons and marry their daughters.
Different values and behaviors are inculcated in boys and girls. In most matters the code
of conduct for girls is more strict. Boys are encouraged to be assertive, independent and ..ambitious.Girls are expected to be efficient in household tasks, obedient and respectful. ‘Decision making ability is not encouraged in girls and they are scolded if they argue too
much, laugh openly or talk loudly, The girl is treated as if she were a temporary person
in her own house and socialization is intended to prepare her for marriage. The above discussion, however, only brings out a general trend. All girls are not neglected and unloved. How girls are treated is determined to a great extent by the She would als0 like to be in school
attitude of the family members. A family which does not discriminate between boys and girls would treat them equally. Economic well being of the family is another factor that influences the attitude of parents towards girls and boys. The next Section discusses how social class brings about differences in the experiences of children.
1.3.2 Social Class
The social class to which a person belongs is determined by her education, occupation and family’s income. People belonging to the upper social class have high incomes and live in big houses. Lower social class is associated with a marginal income, often close
to poverty, low levels of education and smaller dwellings. Between the rich and the poor
there are several levels of socio-economic status. The social class to which a child
belongs will determine the opportunities and facilities available to her. Whether she gets
enough to eat and wear, whether she receives formal education and whether she is
equipped for a vocation will depend upon the family’s socio-economic status. This also
determines the living space and availability of facilities such as water and electricity.
Families of the Lower Social Class: A family belonging to the lower social class does
not have enough money to buy all the necessities of life. Children may not get adequate
food and clothes. Since resources are scarce, girls get a lesser share. Houses are usually
one or two room shelters shared by the entire family. Children live in crowded quarters.
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