Sociology
Outline and explain two ways in which childhood could be considered socially constructed (10 Marks)

Childhood can be easily considered socially constructed. Social construction is the way society shapes a person creating the ‘norms’ and ‘values’ of a person.
In the U.K. children are split depending what social class they are. Usually there is three different classes, these are; Lower Class, this class is for people who don’t have much money and they can be in poverty. Next is Working Class, this is most of the U.K. population, they usually go out and do paid labour. Finally there is the Upper Class these are some of the richest people in the country most of the children in the Upper Class go to private schools, this means they have more opportunities to succeed as they can find work quicker. Meanwhile in places such as Tanzania many, if not all children are lower class and survive on the bare minimum and struggle to even attend a school because of social class where children in the lower class are treat like adults and have to do domestic labour for example going to get water from the river to survive.
Time period can be considered socially constructed because children in the 21st Century have an easier life compared to children in the middle ages. This is because of the influx of technology makes it easier to live. A study done by a sociologist named Aires came to an accurate conclusion that childhood didn’t really exist in the middle ages because children didn’t go to school or get taught unless they were in the higher class, they tend to work as soon as they did not need the support of the mother. Aires said they may as well as been referred to as ‘young adults’ instead of children.
In conclusion I think that Time Period is more important than Social Class because the way childhood as changed and how easier life is now compared to the middle ages