Historical Images of Children
The way societies view children is often reflected in artwork from the period. As you may notice in these four paintings the small boy (a) is represented as a miniature adult, the group of boys (b) are depicted as ruffians, and the girls are painted from idealized (c) and realistic (d) perspectives.
Has the belief that children are miniature adults resurfaced? Some advocates for young children insist that since the advent of television in the mid-1950s, children are once again experiencing pressures and incentives to behave, dress, and act like adults (Elkind, 2001; Postman, 1992). Adult-inspired clothing, beauty pageants, and access to adult-themed television, advertising, movies, music, entertainment, and even the concept of “play dates” are common examples that blur the lines between children and adults.
Associated Press
However, this is different from children wanting to “act like” the adults they see in their lives. In preschool classrooms, children will commonly and naturally use “dress up” clothing to assume and dramatize what they know about adult roles, like firefighter, doctor, chef, and so on. Given societal pressures on children, early childhood teachers have a responsibility to balance opportunities for young children and to explore their ideas about adulthood without pressuring them to be like adults. Our expectations for behavior and achievement must be grounded in appropriate expectations based on what we know about how young children think and act rather than on standards for adults.
