There is No universal experience of 'childhood' - it is a construct Essay

There is No universal experience of 'childhood' - it is a construct entirely dependent on patterns of social organisation and cultural conventions Discuss with - Essay Example This is the beginning of shaping a child to think and act like the parent. In this process, children are taught how to behave and how to move within their culture. Depending on how the child is treated they will either develop a strong character and self-esteem or they will develop one that is weak. A child is taught to perceive the world through their parents eyes and they willing accept this teaching. The biggest influence on childhood will be the culture, religion, economic and social aspects of the family. Rodd (1996) says that culture plays a significant role in childhood and it can be the mainstream culture or it can be a subculture (Rodd, p. 31). Shechtman Hiradin and Zina (2003) talked with adolescents in their study to find out whether there was a difference in how these children would disclose about them based on their ethnicity. Their study found that Moslem children were able to disclose easier than Druze children and they thought it may be due to how much acculturation each ethnic group displayed. Druze people re more traditional in their ways and less acculturated to the mainstream than Moslem and Jewish children according to their findings. This information shows that there is some truth to the idea that culture plays a part on how a child learns. It is the opinion of this writer that culture is a very big part of how children accept certain things in their environment. For instance, many children grow up and are abused in their childhood. Often this leads to abusive adults. The culture can also teach a child to love or to hate, to express themselves well or to be introverted and shy. There are a variety of cultural challenges to a child both inside the home and outside because they are constantly being bombarded by cultural situations. Harris (1999) says that what a parent does may not matter to a childs growing up. She gives examples of how one culture (that of the 1950s) taught parents not to spoil their children. Today, parents are