Childhood in a New Age

Thorne and Luria discuss childhood and how it is related to gender. They observed, “children are usually very careful to separate their friendships and activities on the basis of sex (pg.137).” They continue by saying, “the sociological significance of children’s play is that both boys and girls are helping to socialize one another into primary adult gender roles, females being more concerned with intimacy, emotionality, and romance, and boys with sexuality. They are writing ‘scripts’ that they will follow as adults (pg. 137).” Thorne and Luria also explain that boys and girls are separated on a daily basis and the difference of the interactions just between all boys or all girls. It is operated by society on a daily basis and fuels the idea that boys and girls should be separated.
Goldscheider and White talk about housework and how much responsibility is put on children. “Sex typing of children’s household tasks begins very early, so differences have crystallized by adolescents. Girls tend to spend about twice as much time on house work as their brothers, mirroring the different levels of contribution by their mothers and fathers (pg. 809).” However, “it is often the case that neither boys nor girls gain much experience doing household tasks, because in many families their mothers do almost all of them (pg. 809).” Personally, I did not do much housework growing up, nor did my brother, because my mother did almost all of it. Today, it is still the same. My mother still does the dishes and cleans the house while working while my father does next to nothing for housework. I believe most families today are set up like this but I think the set up of parents working and numbers of children have an effect on this.
Lareau breaks down the models of childrearing by race and class. One of the points she brings up is that, “the middle class parents, both white and black, tend to conform to a cultural logic of childrearing I call ‘concerted cultivation’. They enroll their children in numerous age-specific organized activities that dominate family life and create enormous labor, particular for mothers (pg. 748).” Next she talks about the working and poor class. “The childrearing strategies of white and black working class and poor parents emphasize the ‘accomplishment of natural growth. These parents believe that as long as they provide food, love and safety, their child will grow and thieve (pg. 749).” Even though each social class my have a slightly different idea of childrearing, I believe that love and support are at the root of each, and I believe that is what is most important.
Schor investigates the commercialization of childhood. She states, “This commercialization of childhood is being driven by a number of factors, including broad social trends. But underlying them all is a marketing juggernaut characterized by growing reach, effectiveness, and audacity. One clue to the marketing mentality is industry language. It's a war out there. Those at whom ads are directed are "targets (pg.1)." This affects child because by the age of 2 they can recognize and want brand names and it may not be in their best interest or the interest of their families to have them. Children are also becoming shoppers and are being sucked into the competitive economic world. “Children's influence is being driven by a number of factors, including changes in parenting style. Older generations were more authoritarian; the famous "children should be seen and not heard" adage meant that parents made most buying decisions (pg. 2).” I believe this commercialization is not good for children because I feel companies are taking advantage of them and are taking away their innocence. Children should be able to enjoy the simple things in life without having to worry about name brands and products.