Child
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Biologically, a child
(plural: children) is 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.
Legal,
biological, and social definitions
The United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a 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. Some English definitions of
the word child include the fetus and the unborn.[6]
Biologically, a child is anyone between birth and puberty or in the developmental stage of childhood,
between infancy
and adulthood.[1][2]
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 childish
characteristics. In the 16th century, images of children began to acquire a
distinct childish appearance. From the late 17th century onwards, children were
shown playing. Toys and literature for children also began to develop at this
time.[7]
All children go through stages of
social development. An infant or very young child will play alone happily. If
another child wanders onto the scene, he/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]
Attitudes
toward children
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.[9]
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.[10]
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.[11]
Today, in many countries like Canada and the United States, children twelve and
older are held responsible for their actions and 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.[12]
One-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/she is alive.
Child
mortality
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.[13]
During the Industrial Revolution, the life expectancy of children increased dramatically.[14]
According to population health
experts, child mortality rates have fallen sharply since the 1990s. Deaths of
children under the age of five are down by 42% in the United States, while
Serbia and Malaysia have cut their rates by nearly 70%.[15]
The original link on the subject can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child
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