Many sociologists see childhood as socially constructed; as something created and defined by society. Many argue that what people mean by childhood, and the position that children occupy in society, is not fixed but differs between different times, places and cultures. It can be seen that by comparing the western idea of childhood today with childhood in the past and other societies. It can be determined by many sociologists that there have been many changes in society that have affected children over the last 50 years, however there are several there are several different sociological views on whether these changes have been beneficial to children or not. Functionalist sociologists have the “March of progress” view, as they believe that the experience of childhood has massively improved over the last 50 years. They take the view that childhood is socially constructed and vary between times, places and cultures. There are important differences between childhood in western societies today as compared with both present day Third World countries and European societies in the past. For example, in the middle ages, child labour was basic fact of life for almost all children, while schooling was available only to the wealthy. These differences raise the question of whether the changes in the status of childhood that we looked at earlier represent an improvement. The “March of progress” view argues that, over the past few centuries, the position of children in western societies has been steadily improving and today is better than ever. Writers such as Aries and Shorter hold a “March of progress” view. They argue that todays children are more valued, better cared for, protected and educated, enjoy better health and have more rights than those living in previous generations. For example, children today are protected from harm and exploitation by laws against child