Сhildren and Young People Analysis Essay Sample

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
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Part 1: Evaluation
Children and young people dominate every society in the world. They are the most important resource for future economic growth, which is why they need protection and fair treatment. As children and young people grow up, they realize their value in life. This realization inspires them to be more independent and responsible in ways they believe improve their lives. However, since children are born from different social classes, their perception of life varies. Most importantly, they can make their own decisions when it comes to eating, playing, and interacting with their peers without their parent’s intervention. This essay evaluates the claim that children and young people always play an active role in controlling their own lives.
Firstly, children and young people control their own lives through the foods they choose to eat. Most children are fussy eaters and will always want to select the kinds of food they are craving for without their parent’s interference. To deal with such kinds of children, parents find it necessary to give them healthy options to choose from instead of dictating what has to be cooked in the house. However, this creates a power struggle between parents and children regarding the type of food to be eaten. No parent would like to see their children go hungry because they refused to provide a diet their children prefer.
Eventually, children would have a say in the food they want without being forced by their parents to eat a particular food. Whether the food they choose is healthy or not, their parents will always accept their preference. When considering the relationship between food and children, many people tend to think of the significance of eating healthy food and how children and young people choose to eat. For instance, children who always choose to eat burger identify themselves as rich while those who eat traditional foods identify themselves with low-income class.
Studies show that factors such as family, culture, social class, and gender are associated with food identities (Tatlow-Golden, 2020a). These identities are complex and can change over time. Tatlow-Golden (2020a) asserted that taste influences one's craving for food. Food sustains one's life and builds the body. However, food also reflects the power and family relationships and peer groups in society and worldwide (O’Connell & Brannen, 2014). It is worth noting that the food choices impact the heath of an individual.
Tatlow-Golden (2020a) demonstrated that children and young people identify themselves with the foods they eat. In this study, Victoria Cooper, one of the lead module authors, identified herself with a bowl of soup. According to cooper, a bowl of soup is nutritious and healthy (Tatlow-Golden, 2020a). Heather Montgomery identified herself with readymade meals because they represent freedom of choice (Tatlow-Golden, 2020a). Social researchers Anna Ludvigsen and Sara Scott also conducted a study in the United Kingdom with children and young people below 15 years (Tatlow-Golden, 2020a). They showed the participants two meals:- burger and chips and brown bread and fruit and asked the participants to choose their preferred food.
Researchers found that boys would always choose the burger and chips meal while girls would go for brown bread and fruit for lunch (Tatlow-Golden, 2020a). Children perceived that girls are more careful when choosing the kinds of food to eat due to their weight concerns. However, such perceptions seem inaccurate as many girls like crisps, chips, and desserts than boys. Participants described those who love burgers as lazy, overweight, and naughty, with no physical activity (Tatlow-Golden, 2020a).
Generally, when given various foods to choose from, most children would neglect healthy foods and go for chocolate, ice cream, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, jelly sandwiches, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, and fruit snacks(O’Connell & Brannen, 2014). Some of these foods are unhealthy for children because they contain high levels of fat and sugar, which increases their chances of becoming overweight. This finding aligns with Tatlow-Golden, (2020b) discovery that children and young people hold complex views about healthy eating. Sometimes, their parents or guardians cannot dictate their choice of what to eat.
Secondly, children control their lives through their decision on playing. According to Wood (2014), early childhood education gives children freedom of play. It means that children can decide how they want to play and the type of game they want to play without the teacher's or parent's involvement. Planning a curriculum according to the needs, interests, and learning patterns of children promotes control and self-regulation of the agency(Wood, 2014). Children play in many ways, including exploring movements, using imagination, constructing equipment, and chasing around a playground, none of which are dictated by parents because play is every child's fundamental right. Children who participate in these outdoor plays are responsible for their improved physical health as well as social and mental development.
However, outdoor children’s play is declining due to the advancement of technology and the use of computers in learning. When asked to choose between video games and physical activity, most children and young people would prefer video games. Present studies show that many children and young people in the US play video games daily, which continues to increase with e-learning. In most cases, children and young people play these games without adult’s supervision, making them difficult to control. These games have advantages and disadvantages in a child’s life, and since children and young people prefer them, they are responsible for the benefits and problems brought by these video games in their lives. This shows that children and young people always play an active role in controlling their own lives.
Thirdly, childhood life cannot be explained entirely without mentioning violence. Children and young people are likely to show violent behaviors, including explosive temper tantrums, fighting, attempts to hurt others, cruelty towards animals, intentional destruction of property, and physical aggression. Although many factors like exposure to violence in media, being a victim of physical abuse, genetic factors, psychological problems, and socioeconomic factors may trigger violence in children, such behaviors are regarded as a stage of childhood development. They grow out of it with time.
Related to violent behaviors, children and young people can be in the wrong place at the wrong time without their parents’ awareness. The sociologist Chris Jenks argued that the spatial contexts of children and young people can be explained through the metaphor of weed. A weed is any plant that grows in an unwanted place. As cited by Montgomery (2020a), Jenks (2005) explained that children and young people are like weed because they are noticeable when they are in the wrong place and have to be contained. The fact that children and young people go to such places without parent’s approval or engage in violence with their peers means that they play an active role in controlling their own life.
In first-world countries like Europe and the United States, Children and young people are placed in designated environments like schools, homes, and playgrounds. When they are found outside these settings without an adult’s company, they are considered to be ‘‘out of place’’ and become noticeable(Montgomery, 2020a). Judith Ennew, an anthropologist and children’s rights activist, first coined the phrase ‘‘children out of place’’ in the 1990s (Invernizzi et al., 2017), as cited byMontgomery (2020a). Ennew used this phrase in relation to street children who, she argued, are at the wrong place physically and conceptually. Unfortunately, some children and young people who are out of place without an adult's supervision, especially in low-income economies, are forced to compete for limited resources.
One of the factors that drive children towards the wrong place is poverty. Poverty impacts every aspect of children’s life. Children and young people in poverty may have to combine work and school to survive because they are worried about the future(Montgomery, 2020a). They spend most of their time in very crowded conditions, often working. Their social spaces are also very unwelcoming. The outside spaces they reside in are associated with physical dangers, and their parents cannot control what they get up to outside the house(Montgomery, 2020a).
For street children, violence is integral to their lives. With such problems, children and young people still survive in a harsh environment without protection from their parents. This justifies that children and young people always play an active role in controlling their own lives. Therefore, it is essential to acknowledge that while these children and young people live with many challenges, they have huge potential and strive to do well within their conditions. Circumstances like poverty leave them with no option but to control their lives.
According to Montgomery (2020b), street children are part of street life and home life. They are also viewed as at-risk victims and a menace to social order. Regardless of how society views them, these childr...