James and Prout: Constructing and

Reconstructing Childhood
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Child as a subjective word to be defined is what we call a ‘structuring becoming” and

childhood thereby, can be termed as the time a child takes to be a complete adult.
Some take childhood as an age from infancy to adolescence. However, most of the
people believe that childhood includes all the three stages:-

Infancy: One steps into the golden period of life, childhood, with the birth. During the
stage of infancy, a child is in his early stage of his childhood. Infancy is generally
considered till 1 year of age. However, without words or self independent
movements, a child can express a lot with his innocence and crying and sobbing.
(Moss & Petrie)

Kid: The next stage is what is called a kid stage. Child grows with time and so his
childhood experiences. Knowing the family, getting to the new school, making new
friends and having fun most of the time is what this stage is all about. (Moss &
Petrie)

Adolescence: When it is about adolescence, it is to be noticed that it is the most

complicated stage. This stage brings in various confusions along with tough learning
procedures. Coping up with the study pressure along with the competition in friends
is one of the most common features of this stage. (Moss & Petrie)

As such, three phases of childhood bring in all new and different experiences in the
life of a child. This is what is called the structuring becoming. A child is incomplete,
an extending ladder, a learning process and the future. In all, it can be said, childhood
is actually the base of the person made in the future. Childhood is innocent and
childhood is what we call the incomplete adult age. It brings in various colors, colors
of confusions, colors of innocence, colors of fear, colors of happiness and colors of
truthfulness. (Moss & Petrie)

NATURE OF CHILDHOOD: CONSTRUCTION AND

RECONSTRUCTION OF CHILDHOOD
Childhood is uncertain and one of the most integral part of a person’s life. The most
prominent feature of childhood is its immaturity and innocence. However, how this
immaturity of the child is studied and understood by the society is what we mean to
be a part of “child a social institution”. The culture of the societies may differ from
region to region and so these facts of culture and its impact is what is the integral
part of the social construction of childhood. (James & Prout, 1997)

Alan Prout and Allison James have well presented the childhood as a part of society.
They studied childhood as theory rather than just a function. Childhood, as believed,
depends on various sociological factors. Hence, how these factors affect the
childhood along with the development of child is what is needed to be understood.
These changes made in child with relation to the theories of social sciences indicate
the theory of new emergent paradigm for the childhood sociology. (James & Prout,
1997)

The paradigm can be well understood under following heads:

● Childhood as a social constructive study: we are here talking about the early
years of human life. The constructive study contributes in putting down in the
context, the early stage of human life.
● Childhood is a variable in social representation: Every child has his own
experiences along with the individual perspective. Hence, childhood is not a
fixed factor. Rather, it is one of the variable factors while studying the
representation of the society.
● Childhood carries variant social cultures and relationships: each society
carries its own norms and values. A child is a blend of various societal norms
and the cultural trends prevailing in the society.
● Childhood is an active social constructive stage: childhood is learning and
constructive phase of human life. It is all about gaining the knowledge
whether though books or experiences. It is a constructive phase which
represents the prevailing norms in a society.
● Childhood is an input to future societal culture: today’s child is the future
adult. Hence, when the discussions are about the input provided in form of
knowledge and culture to a present child, it is representing the future of frame
of society.

(James & Prout, 1997)

Hence, with the above points indicated in the theory of Alan Prout and Allison James,
it is quiet clear that study of sociology of childhood is inevitable. It is a device
through which the present and the future intellectual state of mankind can be
determined. Also, the sociology will well indicate the importance of child
development and the factors affected it.

THE EMERGING MODERN APPROACH TO CHILDHOOD

Before getting to the sociology of children, it is important to know what has been the
approach to childhood and how it has been changing with the time. The primitive
concepts of childhood with the restrictions and strict teaching has transformed to a
modern, rational and friendly approach. The trends of knowledge have been changed
to teaching to learning and from book to technologies like computers and
microchips. Today, knowledge is everywhere. Unlike older times when school and
home was the main source of information, today’s children experience a wider field
of exposure. The reasons can be studied as follows:

Modern technology: technologies like internet and virtual world have opened gates
to the massive source of information. World has become smaller with the internet. It
is easy to access and informative at the same time. Sitting at home, one can have
detailed data of any other place. Also, the immediate updates added flavor to
modern technologies.

Resource: commercialization of children. (Williams, Compass (Organisation), 2006)

Media: media has been playing a crucial role when it comes to children. Its effect can
be studied by the fact that a 1 year kid is able to recognize Cadbury chocolate though
he may not know his surname. Similarly, kids recognize heroes or cartoon characters
like Superman, Spiderman, Tom and Jerry etc though important things like their
addresses etc may not be known. (Williams, Compass (Organisation), 2006)

Modernization: one of the direct effects of modernization on children can be seen in

their fashion statements. Today, every child wants to follow fashion trends of movie
stars like Hannah Montana and so on. Each child is aware of the current prevailing
clothing and trends in accessories. (Williams, Compass (Organisation), 2006)

It can be seen that with the modernization, childhood has been transformed in a
different way. Not only the parents but various other organizations also have a
transformed approach. Now-a-days, children are commercialized and they carry a
proud tag of being a different target segment for various companies. (Williams,
Compass (Organisation), 2006)

CHILDREN- A BRAND RECOGNITION

Children are modern and well aware of the current market trends. They are no longer
shy and follow their parents. Modern children, as today, are known for their individual
choices and rock-star attitudes. Parents are well dedicated towards completion of
each choice of their children and so do children make sure to get things of their own
choices. This is the actual reason for the commercialization of children. Kids are well
aware of the market trends and thus are grabbing strong positions in the decisions
of the family. From ice-cream to shampoos and school bags to mobiles, a child has a
say in the decision making. Even the brands are aware of the strength a child is
having, hence, they are focusing on these kids. A sheer example can be taken as the
increasing emphasis on child artists in advertisements. Apart from that, brands like
Hanna Montana specially produce products for children. (Williams, Compass
(Organisation), 2006)

As such, it can be well seen that with the increasing awareness among children,
various problems has been increasing. The common problem is obesity and
depression. Increasing stress levels and competition scales are responsible for
increasing pressures on children. Apart from that, slaughtering time from childhood
and early maturity is another problem that is being faced by society. This again adds
to already increasing stress levels. Hence, children are more and more pressurized,
be it because of society or because of modernization. (Williams, Compass
(Organisation), 2006)

Now, the changing trends of society can be well noticed with reference to the above
discussion. Here the question arises how and why to bring in the changes in
childhood. The answers can be well understood with the contextualization of
sociology of childhood. (James & Prout, 1997)

SOCIOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD
A child is an integral part of the society and childhood is the inevitable part of a child.
Not only it brings in the base of an adult but also provides a huge learning process
that is at its height during childhood. As Alan Prout and Allison James have widely
discussed, it can be said that construction and restructuring of childhood is
inevitable. (James & Prout, 1997)

Child – a social actor

A child is a part of society and so is childhood. Children are no more the neglected
part. They are a brand in themselves which can be noticed with the increased
interest of traders in children. However, it is to be noticed that they are innocent and
immature. Hence, they actually require more care and guidance than any part of
society. They are active participants in social science as it’s the child who transforms
to a responsible adult of a country. (James & Prout, 1997)

Child – generational order

There are major generation gaps prevailing in the society. It has been rightly said that
children are ahead 25 years of their parents. The change in the time and change in
the trend should be taken care off. Major responsibility lies with the parents when it
comes to the generation gap as children are innocent and immature. Only the
present situation is the foremost concern for them and forecasting the future is out
of their capabilities. The generational order has been one of the most fixed yet
variable ingredients of social sciences. It is quite fixed to be present but its extent
varies from family to another.

(James & Prout, 1997)

Child – futuristic approach

It is the child of today that will be the earning and responsible adult of tomorrow.
They are the future of the current society. It is important to understand the childhood
needs as the experience of childhood is what that frames an adult.

(James & Prout, 1997)

Child – the ethics

Inculcating the sense of responsibility and humanity is the function of society.
Humans are social animals, hence, it becomes inevitable to learn the norms and
rules of the society. Social ethics are to be learnt by a child so as to be a responsible
part of society tomorrow. As such, the norms may differ from one culture to another
but; ethics, to be a part of the society are to be inculcated in a child. It not only helps
retain the essence of humanism but also tracks a positive future force.

(James & Prout, 1997)

WELL BEING- CONSTRUCTING AND RECONSTRUCTING

THE CHILDHOOD
One of the major objectives of sociology of children is enhancing and improving
child’s well being. Well-being here may refer to various ingredients of childhood that
includes the material conditions, development of relationship of a child with family,
friends and teachers, physical and mental health and facing the fears of life. It is the
central motive of society to take care of the complete and concrete development of
childhood. (Child wellbeing and child poverty, 2009)

One of the factors that have been affecting the quality of childhood is poverty,
though being a different aspect of wellbeing. It is the poverty that leads to poor living
conditions along with deteriorated childhood experiences. In European countries the
figure has been absurd in the child wellbeing index, especially in the case of the UK.
The UK is the 24th country in the child well being index, out of 29 European countries
listed. When it comes to health, subjective well being, education and material inputs,
the UK is one of the last five countries. However, taking into account factors like
housing, environment, relationships etc UK somehow manages to get a middle
position. This figure very well describes the condition of childhood in advanced
countries like the UK. Similarly, indexes of other countries like Hungary, Greece,
Bulgaria are not much acceptable. Hence, some steps are to be taken by these
countries to construct childhood in a better way. (An overview of child well-being in
rich countries, 2007)

Child health and safety: special measures should be taken for the health of children.
Initiatives regarding better immunization and infant care should be taken. Low rate of
immunization is one of the reasons for low health care. Right vaccination at the right
time is the mantra to be followed. Also, hygienic conditions should be provided to
children so as to avoid any mishap with health.

Mental and emotional health: emotional and mental strength de[ends on the
upbringing of a child. To have a positive attitude towards life along with taking care
of development of mental strength in a child should be the central objective. Helping
in the development of relationships with friends and family and guiding them on the
right path should be the prime objective of society. (An overview of child well-being
in rich countries, 2007)

Stop the classroom discretion: it further adds to the difficulty of the poor child when
classrooms are divided on the basis of performances and competition. Increasing
competitiveness adds to the stress levels in children. Hence, may hamper a healthy
growth in a child. Especially, when it comes to the children who are already living in
economically chaotic conditions, the classroom divide further stops them from
having a better exposure to knowledge. (An overview of child well-being in rich
countries, 2007)

Incentives and public services: Poverty is one of the common factors that is
affecting childhood to major extent. Hence, there should be some incentives for
children who are not able to have a standard childhood due to lack of resources. A
fair set of public services like free education, job opportunities etc should be
provided to children so as to make sure that their future is safe and bright. (An
overview of child well-being in rich countries, 2007)

Rational approach: Modernization of the world has changed a lot of things. Rational
and practical approaches should be part of guidance. Stale and old ideas and
approaches may affect childhood adversely and stop from a better growth. (An
overview of child well-being in rich countries, 2007)

Practical study: children today are getting matured faster. Unlike older times,
challenges of life today are tougher and approach faster. Hence, rather than the
bookish knowledge it is important to inculcate experiences through practical study.
Live projects, case studies are few of the realistic approaches that may help a kid to
grow into a better person. (An overview of child well-being in rich countries, 2007)
CONCLUSION
The emerging new paradigm laid by Alan Prout and Allison James has a rational and
new approach. It very well claims that childhood is a continuous phenomenon that is
being structured and restructured by society. It is the norms of the sociology of
childhood that is directly proportional to the approaches prevailing in the society.
However, there are few things that are to be taken care off. First thing, the sociology
of childhood is important. It is the present sociology of childhood that determines
the future adult and right combinations of approaches in future society. Hence, there
is the need to protect the children mentally, physically and economically. Also, the
process of construction of childhood in society is important. It is the societal
approach that provides a firm base for childhood. Hence, there is a need to
reconstruct the societal norms with the change in time. A modern and informed
approach helps today’s children to grow better and have a profound future.

Apart from that, the negative impressions of children being overloaded with
information and competition are to be removed. Negative factors like poverty and
division of education must be removed with initiates taken in the society. Also, the
new paradigm approach relating to the modern world and new technologies should
be taken care of. It is to be understood that children are no more unaware, they may
be immature though, and however, their thoughts and ideas should be welcomed to
the society. Basically, a child is a bud that takes time to blossom, hence it is the duty
of the society to provide that time in the form of quality childhood and retain a better
quality of future adult force.