Homeized childhood
The term housed childhood describes a life situation of children who spend their childhood primarily in the home or in closed rooms. Pedagogy and childhood research in the social sciences describe a development towards a housed childhood, which can partly be observed in modern societies and especially in cities, as the domesticization of childhood .
Several tendencies closely related to domesticization are observed: an increase in the leisure time children spend in mass media such as television or computers (mediatization of the child's world), an essential role of institutionalized care (institutionalization) and a division into individual living spaces, which is caused by Children cannot be reached independently (isolation).
Taken together, one speaks of a “domesticization”, “islanding” and “institutionalization” of childhood.
The causes of these phenomena are identified in socio-cultural, socio-political and socio-economic change as well as in demographic development.
Scientific studies at the beginning of the 20th century could not confirm the theory of a housed, institutionalized and socially impoverished childhood, as it was accepted as valid especially for big city children. On the basis of evaluations of the study “What do children do in the afternoon?” By the German Youth Institute, it was found that, despite the circumstances, a majority of children are outside every day or at least several times a week. Distances are also mainly covered "independently" in the sense of walking or cycling. However, a more recent study by Pro Juventute showed that children in Switzerland play an average of 47 minutes a day outside and of that just 29 minutes play independently and unsupervised.
Web links
- Geographical Institute, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität (Ed.): Final report on the field internship: Public spaces . Children dream in the big city. Where do children play in Bonn? Bonn ( full version ( Memento from April 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 1.8 MB ; accessed on November 18, 2019]).
- Social Learning in Elementary School , Online Family Guide
- Natural and forest kindergartens in Germany - an alternative to the regular kindergarten in pre-school education, dissertation, Peter Häfner, October 18, 2002. Therein: Section 2.2.3 Domesticization and Section 2.2.3 Isolation
- Against the thesis of domesticization. Results of the first qualitative cross-sectional study from the project 'Learning biographies in the school and out-of-school context', University of Siegen.
Individual evidence
- ↑ childhood. DJI online, May 23, 2013, accessed April 18, 2015 .
- ↑ See quotations in: Carola Podlich: Self-wanted Leisten. Children as constructors of themselves through self-determined performance-related situations. (PDF; 2.1 MB) 2006, accessed on June 23, 2008 . See p. 37 .
- ↑ Ralf Richter: “Reduction of self-employment”: a fitting characteristic of the leisure activities of today's children? (No longer available online.) In: Term paper for the examination for the teaching post at primary and secondary schools at the University of Lüneburg. October 10, 2001, archived from the original on April 21, 2003 ; Retrieved June 23, 2008 .
- ↑ Peter Höfflin, Baldo Blinkert: Free space for children. (PDF; 3.4 MB) Pro Juventute , accessed on June 25, 2018 .