Constructs of Early Childhood

Running head: CONSTRUCTS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
Constructs o Early Childhood
Name of the University
Name of the Student
Author note

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CONSTRUCTS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
PART A: Five Constructions of Childhood
Adult-in-training
Children assisting in construction work
(Source: Pri.org, 2018)
The above image shows some children engaged in construction work in a rural setting.
The image further demonstrates the plight of children in the developing and under developed
countries.
Parents often put pressure on their children to make a living from a very early age, as
mostly seen in low-income countries. Children are expected to earn for their families by taking
on responsibilities like adults. According to Sorin (2005), adult-in-training implies that
childhood is nothing but a practice to become an adult. Certain theories of development proposed
by scholars like Piaget, Freud and Eriksen also point towards the child as an adult-in-training.
These theories state that the children attain developmental milestones and become like adults. In
the developing nations, children hailing from poor families are compelled to replace their adults

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CONSTRUCTS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD
for earning for the family (James & Prout, 2015). They pass the stages of cognitive and physical
development until they fully turn into adults.
The out-of-control child
A young girl screaming at her mother
(Source: Dailymail.co.uk, 2018)
In the given image, it can be seen that the child is uncontrollable by the parent as she
screams in order to fulfill her demand. The child’s body language depicts that she is not agreeing
with her parent and she wants her demands to be met. The way the child has held her hips with
her hand shows her authoritative image.
The child in this image can be juxtaposed with Sorin’ (2005) concept of the Out-of-
control child, where the child leaves the adults helpless. This type of child is ‘unmanageable’,
states Sorin (2005), unlike the Snowballing Child or even the Evil Child. The out-of-control
child even resorts to violence to make people do whatever they want to do. Very rarely do
parents and societies try to understand the behavior of this type of children in order to find a
concrete solution.