Childhood

1. Separate gender groups have different patterns of bonding. The sexuality of a child is the domain that serves as one of the main sources of gender differences. Interaction among boys differs greatly from interaction among girls. Boy's play is characterized by intense and heightened moments. They tend to use more foul language that often has "dirty" undertones and intentions. Boys are also more easily stimulated by excitement and will form bonds based on this excitement. They have the tendency to become aggressive and will often act outwardly towards isolated boys. By 5th grade, touch among boys becomes very constrained and words such as "fag" and "queer" are more widely used. Ironically, mock violence is used to signify a bond between two boys.

On the other hand, groups of girls are certainly more emotional and focus on the friendships themselves. They extensively talk about their relationships which further defines the parameters of popularity. Girls have the tendency to express their affection through gestures of intimacy, such as rubbing each others backs and playing with each others hair. Girls do not use nearly as many dirty words as compared to boys and focus primarily on romance instead. These characteristics mark the main sources of gender differences,

2. In contemporary families, children do not do a significant amount of housework. In fact, children only contribute about 15% in the total household labor. More specifically, in regards to laundry, cooking, and yardwork, children do between 12% and 15% of these tasks. More housework is done by children in families where there is more female children. Goldscheider and Waite attest, "Families with teenage girls report sharing fives times more of these other tasks with children than do families with boys of the same age." In addition, more housework is done as the child gets older. A daughter between the age of 12 and 18 can complete a larger percentage of a task as compared to a daughter between the ages of 6 and 11. Overall female children help out around the house a lot moe frequently because of their gender and also because they have their mothers as domestic role models. In single parent homes, the labor of children is of dire need. In mother-only families, children are given twice as much household responsibility as compared to nuclear families. Teenage girls and teenage boys take more responsibility in mom-only families, but it is interesting to note that the difference is even greater between teenage boys in two-parent families versus mother-only families. Children who live in stepparent families also do more housework as compared to children living with both biological parents, but the difference is not as significant as mother-only and nuclear families.

3. There are clear differences in childrearing across social classes. Families that are more well-off involve their children in many activities. In the case of Mr. and Mrs. Williams, they fostered their child, Alexander's growth through his involvement in music, church, sports, etc. They also spent the majority of their leisure time with their son. They believed that this was the best way to help their son lead the most productive life as possible. He interacted mostly with children of his own age, which defined the context of his social life. As for working class families, the children are not so much involved in outside activities. Rather, the lives of the family members revolve around home. There is much more leisure where the children can virtually focus on whatever they desire. In the case of Harold McAllister, his pace of life was determined by his own interests in conjunction with family obligations. Working class families draw clear boundaries between adult and child. The child is allowed to play at his/her own leisure, but must cease play when needed for household duties. Family ties are extremely important to working class families. As for racial differences in childrearing, there are also differences. Middle-class families are a bit more cautious and aware when dealing with racial issues. Mrs. Williams felt strongly that race should not be used as an excuse for not striving to succeed and made sure Alexander was well aware of this. But overall, there were no "striking differences in the ways in which white parents and black parents in the working-class and poor homes socialized their children."

4. Signs of commercialization ensue at a tender age. Children want brand names and products that are referred heavily by word of mouth. Industries use viral marketing to suck their vulnerable target market right in. Kids are very impressionable, so simple marketing tactics can be quite effective. Children are becoming shoppers at an earlier age and their purchasing power has risen rapidly. The popularity or "coolness" of a toy/product plays a huge role in the commercialization of childhood. In addition, children play an increasingly larger role in what is purchased for the household. Parenting styles are becoming less and less authoritarian which is giving children more opportunity to have great influence over what their parents buy. As a result, this had led to America's growing obesity problem. Today, more kids than ever before are labeled as overweight. Giving kids this purchasing power has also led to increased mental problems and substance abuse. Children are becoming more and more greedy which is ultimately making their personalities more addictive. Children are becoming more and more materialistic, which has sadly caused parents to give in more.