Changing Childhoods 1 Significant Changes in the Past Decades Three Domains Home and Family Education and Employment (Work Place) Leisure Time (Free Time) Understanding of these changes helps Reorganize the diverse and provisional nature of childhood Interpret children’s relations with electronic media

Changing Childhoods 2 Home and Family - comparing with situations in Taiwan Decline in traditional nuclear family Working class & Ethnic minority Single-parent family (mostly mother) Number of youth live with parents till 16-yr vs. Childhood with married natural parents Out-of-wedlock birth & Divorce Fertility rate, Fewer children & Less siblings Professional mom & Working mothers

Changing Childhoods 3 Home and Family - continued Expectation of father in child-care (egalitarian) Homeless family with dependents Less time with parent, more in institutions Polarization b’twn rich & poor (Class difference) Doubled overall house-hold income vs. Increase of family under average Higher children’s place in family; Devoted house-hold income to children Children’s market potential

Changing Childhoods 4 Home and Family - continued “Quality Time” phenomenon: Less time with children, greater value on the time Parent involvement in education Behavior approaches vs. Developmental psychological view (Regulation vs. Guidance) Parent-child relationship (Friendly vs. Authoritarian) Child abuse issue in social policy Risk-free family vs. Committed offenses by parents

Changing Childhoods 5 Education and Employment Compulsory education (Segregation?) Education starting earlier, ending later Government’s commitment Erosion of standards Centralized control of education Parental choice of “best school” Schooling as marketization subject

Changing Childhoods 6 Education & Employment -continued Competition: schools & students Parent coaching Supplementary materials & classes Emphasis & impact on achievement Post-compulsory edu. & unemployment Education vs. training Graduates’ reliance on parental support Involved in paid work (both under- & developed countries): Teens pursuing luxuries?

Changing Childhoods 7 Free Time (Leisure) Increasing privatized, but more supervision? Moving from public spaces to private spaces Parental anxiety (strangers, traffic, treats) Living room furnished with technology More likely to have own bed room More confined, less independently mobile High perception of risk, less going-out (autonomy)

Changing Childhoods 8 Free Time Traditional outdoor / playground games appropriated by children Earlier teenage rebellion Maturing sooner & earlier sexual experience; earlier STD threat; Drug, alcohol, crime (mostly minority) Truancy & drop-out