Childhoods in a Global Context
The significance of childhood development differs from one community to the next based on the societal beliefs. The relationship between parents and children has also grown over time, making it an essential aspect addressing the various concerns raised by dealing with the promotion of significance of the approaches considered. The context of each interaction becomes an essential structure in detailing successful integration into the community. The current structures have grown over time, changing with the societal constructs across the communities. The civilization of man has depended on various attributes necessary in detailing the best ways of harnessing the wellbeing of the community as a whole. The following paper will offer a comparative analysis of how childhood has changed over time in the US and in Kenya. It will also evaluate how the social and cultural demands of Kenyan and American communities prepare their children to meet their daily demands. Besides, it will examine the story of Malala an Afghanistan girl who survived an assassination attempt and her fight for the education of Muslim girls. Examining the specifics of the childhood contexts from a global perspective as part of determining the development of a different perspective needed to shape the practices of the local communities.
Childhood: Cultural and Social Perspectives
When Europeans arrived in North America in the 17th century, the differences were quite stark. The Native Americans were appalled when they saw the westerners physically discipline their children. The notion that such a form of discipline was possible was foreign to them because they thought that humans ought to have different ways of correcting others as opposed to beating them (Stearns, 2005, 15). The notion that western attitudes promoted a relationship between children and adults has been a common wonder to observers from other communities. For instance, in a survey carried out in Kenya, individuals showed dislike of using strollers for the infants as opposed to physically keeping them close to their mothers (Stearns, 2005, 17). They stated that up close relationship between mother to child and the bond are created through an interactive approach. In comparison, American view that strollers are a fun way of bring up children and create an environment of openness (Kaime-Atterhög, Ahlberg , and Persson, 2018, 29 ). Such differences continue to amaze many especially when they learn about the way others treat or do not treat their children. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
A child is only a child based on the circumstances. Currently, areas that thrive on using children in the frontline of war face great criticism from many western countries. However, comparing the traditional American and Kenyan childhood systems, there is a noticeable difference and similarity in the use of children in times of crisis. The African childhood ends at the age of fifteen while in America, it is highly dependent on the circumstance. Stearns (2005) argues that during the American revolution both the American and British armies had child soldiers as young as eight in their ranks. Majority of fourteen and fifteen-year-olds served in active war zones (20). Thus, young children were already participating in societal functions and events. From these considerations, childhood is one of the important process of societal phenomenon. However, its perception changes from time to time and region to region (Stearns, 2005, 17). The context forces differ based on one’s culture and societal norms.
Children in the twentieth century within the western context changed to reflect the civilization and progression of the society. For instance, childhood was an aspect that engaged the children in the life course characterized by social dependency, obligation to be happy, and asexuality (Stearns, 2005, 25). Children have the right to training and protection but not to personal autonomy or socialization. In fact, Clark (2016) believes that the children were considered important but not enough to warrant deliberate study of their behaviors (56). Wyness (2015) argues that this changed as the modern 20th century version compared to the post-modern 21st century conception of childhood presented a different way of considering the changing views regarding childhood.
Importantly, many studies have shaped their view of childhood research on children, an aspect that could be skewed in detailing the way this varies from one region to the other. However, the underlying concept is based on the notion that children’s lives are shaped with who, where and how they interact (Kaime-Atterhög, Ahlberg , and Persson, 2018, 112). In the post-modern 21st century childhood in both Kenya and the US, children are shaped by the social and cultural expectations of the peers and adults in their lives. For instance, the Texas ranger’s mentality is only relatable to children in the south and not the north, while warrior mentality in Kenya is relatable to children from Nilotic communities only (Kramon and Posner, 2018, 116). As such, the intersection between race, gender, class, and age complicates the learning process (Wyness, 2018. 25). While both the Texas Rangers and Warrior mind share the violent complex mentality, they are influenced by the infallibility of the community.
Across the world, contrasting the values and cultures in place makes it almost impossible to attain similarity indexes in how children are raised. The economic wealth as well as the political ideology in a given state play a vital role in shaping how the children will view their environment (Wyness, 2018, 35). The measures in place highlight a different way of dealing with the local perspectives. Wells (2009) on the other hand believes that some universal characteristics do help shape the changes in the community (56). The culture and history given to children shape how they are raised and seen. For instance, for the American child the US is a symbol of hope, justice and truth. For the Kenyan child, Kenya is the jewel of Africa (Oburu and Mbagaya, 2019, 48). While the American child grows with the messiah mentality, the Kenyan child grows with the worker mentality. With such considerations, one must review the basis of local perspectives that exist when discussing some of the vital strategies across the community.
Childhood is also a social construct that has profoundly changed based on the societal and cultural values that define the expectations and take shape based on the time and place. Raising a child in Kenya is quite different from raising them in the US. Childhood in Kenya has a higher level of competition, focus, and disorderliness (Oburu and Mbagaya, 2019, 95). The emphasis, based on this assertion, is that Africa is a tough continent and one must use all that is at his disposal to survive. Education is a huge emphasis and, in most cases, there is an emphasis on getting an expertise in an area is recommended. However, this is not a permanent state. Sutterby (2012) shows that opening up to the world influences the shaping a nations education system (34). African students studying abroad also brought in different values and are using that to dictate what the locals deem as civilized (Wyness, 2015, 28). Westernization is also affecting the way children view their present and their future. The past has been considered too archaic to be followed anymore.
Though experiencing some failures, low-economic countries are = keen on giving children education as a primer for their life. However, the high levels of poverty and the potential traditional impediments seem to be staling them from achieving their maximum potential (Imoh, Bourdillon and Meichsner, 2018, 74). The prevalence of child labor in sub-Saharan Africa is quite concerning because they have to compete with the others in developed worlds. Nearly one in four children between the ages of five and fourteen is involved in child labor practices. While children in South East Asia are having education as a basis for the early developmental process, those in sub-Saharan Africa are facing dangers of mental and physical strains that affects their growth processes (Imoh, Bourdillon and Meichsner, 2018, 78). Safeguarding the children is vital, but the poverty levels place them in more danger of being forced into labor.
In the US, childhood is based on schooling as a determinant of growth and development. However, the notion that the state has to care for them is what differentiates it from the rest of the world. The family and communal traditions play a huge role in shaping the amount of pressure children have of going to school and performing well (Imoh, Bourdillon, and Meichsner, 2018, 98). States govern how families raise their children, creating laws that ensure children attend school. The problem with this notion is that an ethnocentric valuation is seen as becoming more prevalent, as people will view a society that does not take its children to school as having failed them. The west thus looks down on them, making the countries feel like they are cruel to their children. On the contrary, Curran and Runswick-Cole (2013) believe that overlooking what children want sometimes makes it harder to provide what they need (58). Communities create their expectations and force children to adhere to them. Thus, even without knowing and understanding how children in the ‘non-school- attending’ communities learn, they are considered backward. The problem with this perspective is that one view of learning and childhood could misrepresent learning in general. Morgan et al. (2010) agree noting that the learning is vital in each process but should be a reflection of the community (76). The world now uses this as a benchmark for determining how learned a society is, yet learning differs from one society to the next.
A good example of how this one-sided view of learning has affected global context is the western praise of Malala Yousafzi. Malala is an activist for female education in her native Pakistan. However, in an area where women were at times prohibited from attending school or undergoing any form of learning, Malala was keen on ensuring that more girls went to school. The Taliban even attempted to assassinate her for her activism, an aspect that sparked a lot of international condemnation. The western media praised her for her eloquence and desire to achieve such a feat for the local community. Girls were now looking up to her because she was a representation of commitments and desires that played a role in shaping their world. She was fighting for similar resources for children in less affluent areas so that they could match what the affluent children received (Imoh, Bourdillon, and Meichsner, 2018, 66). However, before praising Malala, it is imperative to understand that many people following the Islamic culture did not take their females to school. From a western perspective, this backwardness was derailing the development of the girls’ cognitive capabilities. In reality, this socially accepted attribute was unquestioned for centuries. Some still follow this to date. In this case, Malala used western ideologies to fight against her culture as a way of fighting for similar opportunities as those in western countries (Imoh, Bourdillon, and Meichsner, 2018, 75). The west saw this as a step towards the right direction, making it easier to push the idea that the Pakistani culture was backward and did not give the children a chance to build on their learning processes. Smidt (2013) observes that the essence of education is to liberate the locals. In this case, Malala was doing what she deemed effective for her people the.
It is important to understand that all children have a universal characteristic. Despite the profoundly different expectations from various social and cultural settings, children have similar needs and limitations as part of developing their wellbeing. By virtue of their immaturity, children have a better review of the seamless need for care from their parents (Wyness, 2018. 65). Needs such as physical care such as safety, hygiene, food, and shelter are common amongst all those groups. Emotional attachment is also an important part of dealing with emotional bonds with their caregivers. All children need these emotional aspects to meet their immediate needs. Cultural and social immaturity is also common. Hennon and Wilson (2011) believe that parents play a huge role at this point in giving children what they need (115). The cultural practices from how to eat and live ethically and morally, as part of sharing a concern of all human societies. No matter the regional differences, ignoring this is difficult because of the programs that exist as part of deliberating on some of the common structures and strategies that emanate from cultural and social views (Grigorenko, 2015, 125). Legal structures across the globe such as the US declaration on child right and the Kenyan bill of rights create a basis of giving focus to children’s needs.
The politics of knowledge construction, the imperialism of development aid, and the colonization of the global south have created a platform for the view of childhood from a universal perspective. The politics have been equivocal in valorizing hegemonic, modern, and normative western understandings and notions (Grigorenko, 2015, 130). The realization that the western ideologies are constantly becoming the benchmark for the development of childhood expectations is detailing the economic and political forces that shape the way parenting occurs. Children across the world are defined based on the global perceptions of what is ideal. Bodies such as the UN have been equivocal in detailing the rights of children with the aim of protecting them against anything that could derail them (Wyness, 2015, 29). Even in countries that do not accept this as a bare minimum for their children, western non-governmental organizations and bodies like the UN have been keen on ensuring that education is linked to western ideals and protect the children against any discriminative attribute that could arise.
The creation of a global child mentality has been equivocal in detailing how to shape the existing affiliations as well as develop the global perspectives that arise when helping those in need. Non-governmental organizations use this ploy to get as many children as possible to attain the level of growth needed to ascertain the value systems that provoke emotive responses (Grigorenko, 2015, 137). For instance, the minimum bar set by the USAID in Kenya is that the government continues to support to grow and develop children. When people see a poverty-stricken child, they feel sympathetic towards him or her, making it easier to get more donations to help them. The thoughts and feelings presented are important in shaping the way the world views the children in such a setting the global north becomes the basis of reviewing their wellbeing.
Globalization can be blamed for some of the problems that children undergo in life. Due to the market-oriented economies, the poor have to give up some of their freedoms and rights to work so that they can afford everyday needs (Stearns, 2005, 115). In Kenya, children are withdrawn from schools to help with the family businesses while others marry at a young age to deal with poverty. In such a setting, it is imperative to address the poverty because it diverts the attention needed to keep the children in school. Kroll and Meier (2014) believe that the global environment has affected the way children grow as some also drop out of school voluntarily because they have options in a global environment to make money (56). Governments must ensure that education does not becomes a secondary aspect.
Overall, it becomes imperative to discuss the various connotations that support and explore the way children are considered across the globe. Exploring childhood from a global perspective is imperative because the in different cultures highlight the various ideas of childhood as part of addressing the global processes. As seen through highlighted differences of children welfare in Kenya and in the US, and comparative difference through stories such as the case of Malala, it becomes easier to explore some of the forces that shape the experiences and meaning of childhood. These conditions highlight the various differences that occur when detailing the measures that stand in the way of identifying what modernization has done to the role of parenting. The growth and progress of various eras of civilization has played an essential role in determining how to deal with children. Besides western education has altered the global education mentality. As such, poor nations such as Kenya and others in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South East Asia are seeing western education opportunities as a means of building their strengths.
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