This article is about the juvenile human. For other uses, see Child (disambiguation).
Children at different ages
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Biologically, a child (plural: children) is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty.[1][2] The legal definition of child generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority.[1]
Child may also describe a relationship with a parent (such as sons and daughters of any age)[3] or, metaphorically, an authority figure, or signify group membership in a clan, tribe, or religion; it can also signify being strongly affected by a specific time, place, or circumstance, as in "a child of nature" or "a child of the Sixties".[4]
There are many social issues that affect children, such as childhood education, bullying, child poverty, dysfunctional families and in developing countries, hunger. Children can be raised by parents, in a foster care or similar supervised arrangement, guardians or partially raised in a day care center.
Contents
- 1 Legal, biological, and social definitions
- 2 Socialization
- 3 Age of responsibility
- 4 Child mortality
- 5 Education
- 6 Attitudes toward children
- 7 One-child policy
- 8 Gallery
- 9 See also
- 10 References
- 11 External links
Legal, biological, and social definitions
Children playing ball games, Roman artwork, 2nd century AD
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines child as "a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier".[5] This is ratified by 192 of 194 member countries. Biologically, a child is generally anyone between birth and puberty or in the developmental stage of childhood, between infancy and adulthood.[1][2] Some English definitions of the word child include the fetus (sometimes termed the unborn).[6] In many cultures, a child is considered an adult after undergoing a rite of passage, which may or may not correspond to the time of puberty.
Children generally have fewer rights than adults and are classed as unable to make serious decisions, and legally must always be under the care of a responsible adult. Recognition of childhood as a state different from adulthood began to emerge in the 16th and 17th centuries. Society began to relate to the child not as a miniature adult but as a person of a lower level of maturity needing adult protection, love and nurturing. This change can be traced in paintings: In the Middle Ages, children were portrayed in art as miniature adults with no childlike characteristics. In the 16th century, images of children began to acquire a distinct childlike appearance. From the late 17th century onwards, children were shown playing. Toys and literature for children also began to develop at this time.[7]
Socialization
Children's Games, 1560, Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Every child goes through many stages of social development. An infant or very young child will play alone happily. If another child wanders onto the scene, he or she may be physically attacked or pushed out of the way. Next, the child can play with another child, gradually learning to share and take turns. Eventually, the group grows larger, to three or four children. By the time a child enters kindergarten, he or she can usually join in and enjoy group experiences.[8]
Children with ADHD and learning disabilities may need extra help to develop social skills. The impulsive characteristics of an ADHD child may lead to poor peer relationships. Children with poor attention spans may not tune into social cues in their environment, making it difficult for them to learn social skills through experience.[8]
Age of responsibility
Further information: Age of consent, Age of majority, Age of criminal responsibility and Marriageable age
The age at which children are considered responsible for their society-bound actions (e. g. marriage, voting, etc.) has also changed over time, and this is reflected in the way they are treated in courts of law. In Roman times, children were regarded as not culpable for crimes, a position later adopted by the Church. In the 19th century, children younger than seven years old were believed incapable of crime. Children from the age of seven forward were considered responsible for their actions. Therefore, they could face criminal charges, be sent to adult prison, and be punished like adults by whipping, branding or hanging.[9] Today, in many countries like Canada and the United States, children twelve and older are held responsible for their actions. They may be sent to special correctional institutions, such as juvenile hall.
Surveys have found that at least 25 countries around the world have no specified age for compulsory education. Minimum employment age and marriage age also vary. In at least 125 countries, children aged 7–15 may be taken to court and risk imprisonment for criminal acts. In some countries, children are legally obliged to go to school until they are 14 or 15 years old, but may also work before that age. A child's right to education is threatened by early marriage, child labour and imprisonment.[10]
Child mortality
Main articles: Child mortality and Infant mortality
World infant mortality rates in 2012.
[11]
During the early 17th century in England, average life expectancy was only about 35 years, largely because two-thirds of all children died before the age of four.[12] During the Industrial Revolution, the life expectancy of children increased dramatically.[13]
According to population health experts, child mortality rates have fallen sharply since the 1990s. About 12.6 million under-five infants died annually worldwide in 1990, which has declined to 6.6 million infant deaths in 2012. The infant mortality rate has dropped from 90 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990, to 48 in 2012. The highest average infant mortality rates are in Sub-Saharan Africa, at 98 deaths per 1,000 live births - nearly double the world's average of 48.[11]
Education
Main article: Education
Education, in the general sense, refers to the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and preparing intellectually for mature life.[14] Formal education most often takes place through schooling. A right to education has been recognized by some governments. At the global level, Article 13 of the United Nations' 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognizes the right of everyone to an education.[15] Education is compulsory in most places up to a certain age, but attendance at school may not be, with alternative options such as home-schooling or e-learning being recognized as valid forms of education in certain jurisdictions.
Children in some countries (especially in parts of Africa and Asia) are often kept out of school, or attend only for short periods. Data from UNICEF indicate that in 2011, 57 million children were out of school; and more than 20% of African children have never attended primary school or have left without completing primary education. [16] According to a UN report, warfare is preventing 28 million children worldwide from receiving an education, due to the risk of sexual violence and attacks in schools.[17] Other factors that keep children out of school include poverty, child labor, social attitudes, and long distances to school.[18][19]
Attitudes toward children
Group of Breaker boys in Pittston, Pennsylvania, 1911. Child labor was very common in USA and Europe in late 19th and early 20th century. Currently, child labor rates are highest in Africa.
Social attitudes toward children differ around the world in various cultures. These attitudes have changed over time. A 1988 study on European attitudes toward the centrality of children found that Italy was more child-centric and the Netherlands less child-centric, with other countries, such as Austria, Great Britain, Ireland and West Germany falling in between.[20]
Child marriage was common in human history. Today child marriage rates reach 75% in Niger and 68% in Central African Republic and Chad, 66% in Bangladesh and 47% in India.[21]
Protection of children from abuse is considered an important contemporary goal. This includes protecting children from exploitation such as child labor, child trafficking and selling, child sexual abuse, including child prostitution and child pornography, military use of children, and child laundering in illegal adoptions. There exist several international instruments for these purposes, such as:
- Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
- Minimum Age Convention, 1973
- Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
- Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse
- Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict
- Hague Adoption Convention
- European Union's Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography.[22]
One-child policy
Main article: One-child policy
See also: Two-child policy
China's one-child policy forces some couples to have no more than one child. China's population policy has been credited with a very significant slowing of China's population growth which had been higher before the policy was implemented. It has come under criticism that the implementation of the policy has involved forced abortions and forced sterilization. However, while the punishment of "unplanned" pregnancy is a fine, both forced abortion and forced sterilization can be charged as intentional assault, which is punished with up to 10 years' imprisonment. If born with another child and kept, parents must pay a large fine for every day he is alive.
Gallery
See also
Listen to this article (info/dl)
This audio file was created from a revision of the "Child" article dated 2008-06-24, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (Audio help)
More spoken articles
- Child actor
- Child development
- Child sexual abuse
- Child slavery
- Child-selling
- Childhood
- Childlessness
- Children's rights
- Index of youth articles
- National Children's Study
- Outline of children
- Religion and children
References
- ^ a b c "Child". TheFreeDictionary.com. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
- ^ a b "Child". Oxford University Press. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
- ^ "For example, the US Social Security department specifically defines an adult child as being over 18". Ssa.gov. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- ^ "American Heritage Dictionary". 2007-12-07.
- ^ "Convention on the Rights of the Child" The Policy Press, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
- ^ See Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 397 (6th ed. 2007), which's first definition is "A fetus; an infant;...". See also ‘The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary: Complete Text Reproduced Micrographically’, Vol. I (Oxford University Press, Oxford 1971): 396, which defines it as: ‘The unborn or newly born human being; foetus, infant’.
- ^ . "Essays on childhood". Elizabethi.org. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- ^ a b "Socialization stages". Childdevelopmentinfo.com. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- ^ Fikadu Satena. "Juvenile courts". Law.jrank.org. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- ^ Melchiorre, A. (2004) At What Age?...are school-children employed, married and taken to court?
- ^ a b Infant Mortality Rates in 2012, UNICEF, 2013.
- ^ W. J. Rorabaugh, Donald T. Critchlow, Paula C. Baker (2004). "America's promise: a concise history of the United States". Rowman & Littlefield. p.47. ISBN 0-7425-1189-8
- ^ "Modernization - Population Change". Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ^ "Education | Define Education at Dictionary.com". Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
- ^ ICESCR, Article 13.1
- ^ "Out-of-School Children Initiative | Basic education and gender equality". UNICEF. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
- ^ "BBC News - Unesco: Conflict robs 28 million children of education". Bbc.co.uk. 2011-03-01. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
- ^ "UK | Education | Barriers to getting an education". BBC News. 2006-04-10. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
- ^ Melik, James (2012-10-11). "BBC News - Africa gold rush lures children out of school". Bbc.com. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
- ^ "Rachel K. Jones and April Brayfield, Life's greatest joy?: European attitudes toward the centrality of children. Social Forces, Vol. 75, No. 4, Jun 1997. 1,239-69 pp. Chapel Hill, North Carolina". Popindex.princeton.edu. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
- ^ "Child brides around the world sold off like cattle". USA Today. March 8, 2013.
- ^ Official Journal of the European Union
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Children. |
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Child. |
- wikiprogress.org
- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
- Family database, OECD
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Family
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- Household
- Nuclear family
- Extended family
- Conjugal family
- Matrifocal family
- Blended family
- Dysfunctional family
- Polyfidelitous families
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| Immediate family |
- Spouse
- Parent
- Child
- Sibling
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| Extended family |
- Grandparent
- Grandchild
- Aunt
- Uncle
- Cousin
- Nephew and niece
- Common ancestor
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| Family-in-law |
- Parents-in-law
- Mother-in-law
- Father-in-law
- Sister-in-law
- Brother-in-law
- Siblings-in-law
- Son-in-law
- Daughter-in-law
- Children-in-law
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| Kinship |
- Adoption
- Affinity
- Consanguinity
- Disownment
- Divorce
- Estrangement
- Fictive kinship
- Marriage
- Nurture kinship
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| Lineage |
- Bilateral descent
- Family name
- Family tree
- Genealogy
- Heirloom
- Heredity
- Inheritance
- Matrilineality
- Patrilineality
- Pedigree chart
- Progenitor
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| Relationships |
- Agape (parental love)
- Eros (marital love)
- Filial piety
- Philia (friendly love)
- Storge (familial love)
- Veneration
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| Stepfamily |
- Stepparents
- Stepmother
- Stepfather
- Half-sister
- Half-brother
- Half-siblings
- Stepson
- Stepdaughter
- Stepchildren
- Step-grandfather
- Step-grandmother
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| Theories |
- Anti-Oedipus
- Kommune 1
- Three-parent baby
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Human biological and psychological development
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| Pre- and perinatal |
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| Postnatal development |
- Infant
- Toddler
- Preschool / Early childhood
- Elementary school
- Preadolescence
- Adolescence
- Middle age
- Old age
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Legal and general definitions
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- Minor
- Infancy
- Child
- Childhood
- Adolescence
- Age of majority
- Adult
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| Developmental events and phases |
- Gestational age
- Prenatal development
- Birth
- Child development (stages)
- Cognitive development of infants
- Human development
- Puberty
- Ageing
- Senescence
- Death
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| Development and psychology |
- Pre- and perinatal psychology
- Infant and child psychology
- Adolescent psychology
- Youth development
- Young adult psychology
- Adult development
- Developmental psychology
- Psychological maturity
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Theorists and
theories
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- Bowlby (Attachment theory)
- Bronfenbrenner (Ecological systems theory)
- Erikson (Psychosocial development)
- Freud (Psychosexual development)
- Kohlberg (Moral development)
- Piaget (Cognitive development)
- Vygotsky (Cultural-historical psychology)
- Evolutionary developmental psychology
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Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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General principles
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- Article 1: Freedom, Egalitarianism, Dignity and Brotherhood
- Article 2: Universality of rights
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International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
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- Articles 1 and 2: Right to freedom from discrimination
- Article 3: Right to life, liberty and security of person
- Article 4: Freedom from slavery
- Article 5: Freedom from torture or cruel and unusual punishment
- Article 6: Right to personhood
- Article 7: Equality before the law
- Article 8: Right to effective remedy from the law
- Article 9: Freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile
- Article 10: Right to a fair trial
- Article 11.1: Presumption of innocence
- Article 11.2: Prohibition of retrospective law
- Article 12: Right to privacy
- Article 13.1: Freedom of movement
- Article 13.2: Right of return
- Article 14: Right of asylum
- Article 15: Right to a nationality
- Article 16: Right to marriage and family life
- Article 17: Right to property
- Article 18: Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
- Article 19: Freedom of opinion and expression and information
- Article 20.1: Freedom of assembly
- Article 20.2: Freedom of association
- Article 21.1: Right to participation in government
- Article 21.2: Right of equal access to public office
- Article 21.3: Right to universal suffrage
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International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
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- Article 22: Right to social security
- Article 23.1: Right to work
- Article 23.2: Right to equal pay for equal work
- Article 23.3: Right to just remuneration
- Article 23.4: Right to join a trade union
- Article 24: Right to rest and leisure
- Article 25.1: Right to an adequate standard of living
- Article 25.2: Right to special care and assistance for mothers and children
- Article 26.1: Right to education
- Article 26.2: Human rights education
- Article 26.3: Right to choice of education
- Article 27: Right to science and culture
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Context, limitations and duties
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- Article 28: Social order
- Article 29.1: Social responsibility
- Article 29.2: Limitations of human rights
- Article 29.3: The supremacy of the purposes and principles of the United Nations
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| Article 30: |
- Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
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