Age Group as Social Construction

Age Group as Social Construction

IGCSE Sociology

Lesson Objectives

IGCSE Sociology

• Explain how age group serves as an example of social construction

• Define the following:

  • Social Construction

  • Age group

  • Elderly

  • Child-centered

Social Construction

The idea that social situations and events are constructed - made - by societies: they do not exit in nature as independent things.

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Examples: Age; gender, race and ethnicity.

Societies divide their members into age group in different ways and the roles assigned to them vary and are not always directly linked to biological abilities.

Age groups: ways in which people of the same age share status or associated roles.

Age Groups

Open Ended

What do you observe in the illustration?

Socialisation

Socialisation: the process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society

• In modern industrial societies, children spend a long period undergoing socialisation before they enter into the adult world.

• Elderly people enter a phase of retirement at a legally specified age.

• In some societies children stat working alongside adults at much earlier ages and there is no formal retirement age: people work as long as they are physically able.​

Poll

Is childhood socially constructed?

• Yes

• No

Social Construction of Childhood

Ways in which children are thought of, treated, and expected to behave vary between cultures and in different time periods.​

Some text here about the topic of discussion

French historian

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Childhood in the modern sense did not exist in medieval period in Europe.

Medieval period: European history from fall of Rome to the Renaissance

Philippe Ariès

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Social Construction of Childhood

• The invention of the printing press improved formal education (schools)

• Children were thought to be different form adults and needed to be trained and protected​

Social Construction of Childhood

• Today professionals deal with children and they believe children are not yet fully developed, thus they need guidance and protection. These include:

  • teachers,

  • psychologists

  • pediatricians

  • child psychiatrists

Child-centered: a society in which children are highly valued and a lot of time and effort are devoted to their well-being.

American Educator

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Developed Ariès's ideas and argues that childhood has been changed again by the growth of television, computers, and new technology.

Neil Postman

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Open Ended

What types of danger does media have on child development?

Postman's Arguments

• Children are exposed to the adult world at an early age

• Childrens cannot be kept isolated and innocent any more

• Increases in crime by children and the tendency for children to dress and behave sexually more like adults and at a younger age shows that society changes

Think-Pair-Share (7 Minutes)

• Work with a partner.

• Make a list of features of childhood in the medieval period in Europe (see Aries's arguments on page 66) and compare them to the situation today.

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Open Ended

After listing the comparision of medieval and present-day childhood, answer the question below:

What similarities and differences are there?

(Don't forget to write the name of your pair)

Project Introduction