Achild (pl.children) is ahuman being between the stages ofbirth andpuberty,[1][2] or between thedevelopmental period ofinfancy and puberty.[3] The term may also refer to an unborn human being.[4][5] In English-speaking countries, the legal definition ofchild generally refers to aminor, in this case as a person younger than the localage of majority (there are exceptions like, for example, the consume and purchase ofalcoholic beverage even after said age of majority[6]), regardless of their physical, mental and sexual development as biologicaladults.[1][7][8] Children generally have fewerrights and responsibilities than adults. They are generally classed as unable to make serious decisions.
Child may also describe a relationship with aparent (such assons anddaughters of any age)[9] or,metaphorically, anauthority 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."[10]
Biological, legal and social definitions
Children playing ball games, Roman artwork, 2nd century AD
In the biological sciences, a child is usually defined as a person between birth and puberty,[1][2] or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty.[3] Legally, the termchild may refer to anyone below the age of majority or some other age limit.
TheUnited NationsConvention on the Rights of the Child defineschild as, "A human being below the age of 18 years unless under thelaw applicable to the child,majority is attained earlier."[11] This is ratified by 192 of 194 member countries. The termchild may also refer to someone below another legally defined age limit unconnected to the age of majority. InSingapore, for example, achild is legally defined as someone under the age of 14 under the "Children and Young Persons Act" whereas the age of majority is 21.[12][13] In U.S. Immigration Law, a child refers to anyone who is under the age of 21.[14]
Some English definitions of the wordchild include thefetus (sometimes termedthe unborn).[15] In many cultures, a child is considered an adult after undergoing arite of passage, which may or may not correspond to the time of puberty.
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 orchild custody, whether their parents divorce or not.
Children playing theviolin in a group recital, Ithaca, New York, 2011Children inMadagascar, 2011Child playing piano, 1984
Early childhood follows theinfancy stage and begins withtoddlerhood when the child begins speaking or taking steps independently.[16][17] While toddlerhood ends around age 3 when the child becomes less dependent on parental assistance for basic needs, early childhood continues approximately until the age of 5 or 6. However, according to theNational Association for the Education of Young Children, early childhood also includes infancy. At this stage children are learning through observing, experimenting and communicating with others. Adults supervise and support the development process of the child, which then will lead to the child's autonomy. Also during this stage, a strong emotional bond is created between the child and the care providers. The children also start preschool and kindergarten at this age: and hence their social lives.
Middle childhood
Middle childhood begins at around age 7, and ends at around age 9 or 10.[18] Together, early and middle childhood are called formative years. In this middle period, children develop socially and mentally. They are at a stage where they make new friends and gain new skills, which will enable them to become more independent and enhance their individuality.During middle childhood, children enter the school years, where they are presented with a different setting than they are used to. This new setting creates new challenges and faces for children.[19] Upon the entrance of school, mental disorders that would normally not be noticed come to light. Many of these disorders include:autism,dyslexia,dyscalculia, andADHD.[20]: 303–309 Special education,least restrictive environment,response to intervention andindividualized education plans are all specialized plans to help children with disabilities.[20]: 310–311
Middle childhood is the time when children begin to understand responsibility and are beginning to be shaped by their peers and parents. Chores and more responsible decisions come at this time, as do social comparison and social play.[20]: 338 During social play, children learn from and teach each other, often through observation.[21]
Preadolescence is a stage of human development following early childhood and precedingadolescence. Preadolescence is commonly defined as ages 9–12, ending with the major onset of puberty, with markers such asmenarche,spermarche, and the peak of height velocity occurring. These changes usually occur between ages 11 and 14. It may also be defined as the 2-year period before the major onset of puberty.[22] Preadolescence can bring its own challenges and anxieties. Preadolescent children have a different view of the world from younger children in many significant ways. Typically, theirs is a more realistic view of life than the intense, fantasy-oriented world of earliest childhood. Preadolescents have more mature, sensible, realistic thoughts and actions: 'the most "sensible" stage of development...the child is a muchless emotional being now.'[23] Preadolescents may well view humanrelationships differently (e.g. they may notice the flawed, human side ofauthority figures). Alongside that, they may begin to develop a sense ofself-identity, and to have increased feelings ofindependence: 'may feel an individual, no longer "just one of the family."'[24]
Adolescence is usually determined to be between the onset of puberty and legal adulthood: mostly corresponding to the teenage years (13–19). However,puberty usually begins before the teenage years (10—11 for girls and 11—12 for boys). Although biologically a child is a human being between the stages ofbirth andpuberty,[1][2] adolescents are legally considered children, as they tend to lack adult rights and are still required to attend compulsory schooling in many cultures, though this varies. The onset of adolescence brings about various physical,psychological and behavioral changes. The end of adolescence and the beginning of adulthood varies by country and by function, and even within a single nation-state or culture there may be different ages at which an individual is considered to be mature enough to be entrusted by society with certain tasks.
During the EuropeanRenaissance, artistic depictions of children increased dramatically, which did not have much effect on the social attitude toward children, however.[25]
The French historianPhilippe Ariès argued that during the 1600s, the concept of childhood began to emerge in Europe,[26] however other historians likeNicholas Orme have challenged this view and argued that childhood has been seen as a separate stage since at least the medieval period.[27] Adults saw children as separate beings, innocent and in need of protection and training by the adults around them. The English philosopherJohn Locke was particularly influential in defining this new attitude towards children, especially with regard to his theory of thetabula rasa, which considered the mind at birth to be a "blank slate". A corollary of this doctrine was that the mind of the child was born blank, and that it was the duty of the parents to imbue the child with correct notions. During the early period ofcapitalism, the rise of a large, commercial middle class, mainly in theProtestant countries of theDutch Republic andEngland, brought about a new family ideology centred around the upbringing of children.Puritanism stressed the importance of individual salvation and concern for the spiritual welfare of children.[28]
The modern notion of childhood with its own autonomy and goals began to emerge during the 18th-centuryEnlightenment and theRomantic period that followed it.[29][30]Jean Jacques Rousseau formulated the romantic attitude towards children in his famous 1762 novelEmile: or, On Education. Building on the ideas ofJohn Locke and other 17th-century thinkers, Jean-Jaques Rousseau described childhood as a brief period of sanctuary before people encounter the perils and hardships of adulthood.[29] SirJoshua Reynolds' extensive children portraiture demonstrated the new enlightened attitudes toward young children. His 1788 paintingThe Age of Innocence emphasizes the innocence and natural grace of the posing child and soon became a public favourite.[31]
Brazilian princessesLeopoldina (left) andIsabel (center) with an unidentified friend, c. 1860.
The idea of childhood as a locus of divinity, purity, and innocence is further expounded upon inWilliam Wordsworth's "Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood", the imagery of which he "fashioned from a complex mix of pastoral aesthetics, pantheistic views of divinity, and an idea of spiritual purity based on an Edenic notion of pastoral innocence infused with Neoplatonic notions of reincarnation".[30] This Romantic conception of childhood, historian Margaret Reeves suggests, has a longer history than generally recognized, with its roots traceable to similarly imaginative constructions of childhood circulating, for example, in the neo-platonic poetry of seventeenth-century metaphysical poetHenry Vaughan (e.g., "The Retreate", 1650; "Childe-hood", 1655). Such views contrasted with the stridently didactic, Calvinist views of infant depravity.[32]
Armenian scouts in 1918
With the onset ofindustrialisation in England in 1760, the divergence between high-minded romantic ideals of childhood and the reality of the growing magnitude of child exploitation in the workplace, became increasingly apparent. By the late 18th century, British children were specially employed in factories and mines and aschimney sweeps,[33] often working long hours in dangerous jobs for low pay.[34] As the century wore on, the contradiction between the conditions on the ground for poor children and the middle-class notion of childhood as a time of simplicity and innocence led to the first campaigns for the imposition of legal protection for children.
British reformers attackedchild labor from the 1830s onward, bolstered by the horrific descriptions of London street life byCharles Dickens.[35] The campaign eventually led to theFactory Acts, which mitigated the exploitation of children at the workplace[33][36]
Modern concepts of childhood
Children play in a fountain in a summer evening,Davis, California.An old man and his granddaughter inTurkey.Nepalese children playing withcats.Harari girls in Ethiopia.
The modern attitude to children emerged by the late 19th century; the Victorian middle and upper classes emphasized the role of the family and the sanctity of the child – an attitude that has remained dominant in Western societies ever since.[37] The genre ofchildren's literature took off, with a proliferation of humorous, child-oriented books attuned to the child's imagination.Lewis Carroll's fantasyAlice's Adventures in Wonderland, published in 1865 in England, was a landmark in the genre; regarded as the first "English masterpiece written for children", its publication opened the "First Golden Age" of children's literature.
The latter half of the 19th century saw the introduction of compulsory state schooling of children across Europe, which decisively removed children from the workplace into schools.[38][39]
The market economy of the 19th century enabled the concept of childhood as a time of fun, happiness, and imagination. Factory-made dolls and doll houses delighted the girls and organized sports and activities were played by the boys.[40]TheBoy Scouts was founded by SirRobert Baden-Powell in 1908,[41][42] which provided young boys with outdoor activities aiming at developing character, citizenship, and personal fitness qualities.[43]
In the 20th century,Philippe Ariès, a French historian specializing inmedieval history, suggested that childhood was not a natural phenomenon, but a creation of society in his 1960 bookCenturies of Childhood. In 1961 he published a study of paintings, gravestones, furniture, and school records, finding that before the 17th century, children were represented as mini-adults.
In 1966, the American philosopherGeorge Boas published the bookThe Cult of Childhood. Since then, historians have increasingly researched childhood in past times.[44]
In 2006,Hugh Cunningham published the bookInvention of Childhood, looking at British childhood from the year 1000, theMiddle Ages, to what he refers to as the Post War Period of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.[45]
Childhood evolves and changes as lifestyles change and adult expectations alter. In the modern era, many adults believe that children should not have any worries or work, as life should be happy and trouble-free. Childhood is seen as a mixture of simplicity, innocence, happiness, fun, imagination, and wonder. It is thought of as a time of playing, learning, socializing, exploring, and worrying in a world without much adult interference.[29][30]
A "loss of innocence" is a common concept, and is often seen as an integral part ofcoming of age. It is usually thought of as an experience or period in a child's life that widens their awareness of evil, pain or the world around them. This theme is demonstrated in the novelsTo Kill a Mockingbird andLord of the Flies. The fictional characterPeter Pan was the embodiment of a childhood that never ends.[46][47]
Children's health includes the physical, mental and social well-being of children. Maintaining children's health implies offering them healthy foods, insuring they get enough sleep and exercise, and protecting their safety.[48] Children in certain parts of the world often suffer frommalnutrition, which is often associated with other conditions, such diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria.[49]
Dancing at Mother of Peace AIDs orphanage,Zimbabwe
Play is essential to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children.[51] It offers children opportunities for physical (running, jumping, climbing, etc.), intellectual (social skills, community norms, ethics and general knowledge) and emotional development (empathy, compassion, and friendships). Unstructured play encourages creativity and imagination. Playing and interacting with other children, as well as some adults, provides opportunities for friendships, social interactions, conflicts and resolutions. However, adults tend to (often mistakenly) assume that virtually all children's social activities can be understood as "play" and, furthermore, that children's play activities do not involve much skill or effort.[52][53][54][55]
It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them. Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering their fears while practicing adult roles, sometimes in conjunction with other children or adult caregivers.[51] Undirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills. However, when play is controlled by adults, children acquiesce to adult rules and concerns and lose some of the benefits play offers them. This is especially true in developing creativity, leadership, and group skills.[51]
Play is considered to be very important to optimal child development that it has been recognized by theUnited Nations Commission on Human Rights as a right of every child.[11] Children who are being raised in a hurried and pressured style may limit the protective benefits they would gain from child-driven play.[51]
The initiation of play in a classroom setting allows teachers and students to interact through playfulness associated with a learning experience. Therefore, playfulness aids the interactions between adults and children in a learning environment. “Playful Structure” means to combine informal learning with formal learning to produce an effective learning experience for children at a young age.[56]
Even though play is considered to be the most important to optimal child development, the environment affects their play and therefore their development. Poor children confront widespread environmental inequities as they experience less social support, and their parents are less responsive and more authoritarian. Children from low income families are less likely to have access to books and computers which would enhance their development.[57]
Children in front of a movie theatre, Toronto, 1920s.
Children's street culture refers to the cumulativeculture created by young children and is sometimes referred to as theirsecret world. It is most common in children between the ages of seven and twelve. It is strongest in urbanworking classindustrial districts where children are traditionally free to play out in the streets for long periods without supervision. It is invented and largely sustained by children themselves with little adult interference.
Young children's street culture usually takes place on quiet backstreets and pavements, and along routes that venture out into localparks,playgrounds, scrub and wasteland, and to local shops. It often imposes imaginative status on certain sections of the urban realm (local buildings, kerbs, street objects, etc.). Children designate specific areas that serve as informal meeting and relaxation places (see: Sobel, 2001). An urban area that looks faceless or neglected to an adult may have deep 'spirit of place' meanings in to children. Since the advent of indoor distractions such asvideo games, andtelevision, concerns have been expressed about the vitality – or even the survival – of children's street culture.
Geographies of childhood
The geographies of childhood involves how (adult) society perceives the idea of childhood, the many ways adult attitudes and behaviors affect children's lives, including the environment which surrounds children and its implications.[58]
The geographies of childhood is similar in some respects tochildren's geographies which examines the places and spaces in which children live.[59]
Nature Deficit Disorder, a term coined byRichard Louv in his 2005 bookLast Child in the Woods, refers to the trend in the United States and Canada towards less time for outdoor play,[60][61] resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems.[62]
With increasing use of cellphones, computers, video games and television, children have more reasons to stay inside rather than outdoors exploring. “The average American child spends 44 hours a week with electronic media”.[63] Research in 2007 has drawn a correlation between the declining number ofNational Park visits in the U.S. and increasing consumption of electronic media by children.[64] The media has accelerated the trend for children's nature disconnection by deemphasizing views of nature, as in Disney films.[65]
The age at which children are considered responsible for their society-bound actions (e. g. marriage, voting, etc.) has also changed over time,[66] 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. However, courts at the time would consider the offender's age when deliberating sentencing.[citation needed] Minimum employment age and marriage age also vary. The age limit of voluntary/involuntary military service is also disputed at the international level.[67]
Education
Children in an outdoor classroom inBié,AngolaChildren seated in a Finnish classroom at the school of Torvinen inSodankylä,Finland, in the 1920s
Education, in the general sense, refers to the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and preparing intellectually for mature life.[68] Formal education most often takes place throughschooling. Aright to education has been recognized by some governments. At the global level, Article 13 of theUnited Nations' 1966International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) recognizes the right of everyone to an education.[69]Education is compulsory in most places up to a certain age, but attendance atschool may not be, with alternative options such ashome-schooling ore-learning being recognized as valid forms of education in certain jurisdictions.
Children in some countries (especially in parts of Africa and Asia) are often kept out of school, or attend only for short periods. Data fromUNICEF indicate that in 2011, 57 million children were out of school; and more than 20% of African children have never attended primary school or have left without completing primary education.[70] According to a UN report,warfare is preventing 28 million children worldwide from receiving an education, due to the risk of sexual violence and attacks in schools.[71] Other factors that keep children out of school include poverty, child labor, social attitudes, and long distances to school.[72][73]
Attitudes toward children
Group ofbreaker boys in Pittston, Pennsylvania, 1911.Child labor was widespread until the early 20th century. In the 21st century, child labor rates are highest in Africa.
Social attitudes toward children differ around the world in various cultures and change 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 andWest Germany falling in between.[74]
Child marriage
In 2013,child marriage rates of female children under the age of 18 reached 75% in Niger, 68% in Central African Republic and Chad, 66% in Bangladesh, and 47% inIndia.[75] According to a 2019UNICEF report on child marriage, 37% of females were married before the age of 18 in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by South Asia at 30%. Lower levels were found in Latin America and Caribbean (25%), the Middle East and North Africa (18%), and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (11%), while rates in Western Europe and North America were minimal.[76] Child marriage is more prevalent with girls, but also involves boys. A 2018 study in the journal Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies found that, worldwide, 4.5% of males are married before age 18, with the Central African Republic having the highest average rate at 27.9%.[77]
Fertility and number of children per woman
Beforecontraception became widely available in the 20th century, women had little choice other thanabstinence or having often many children. In fact, currentpopulation growth concerns have only become possible with drastically reducedchild mortality and sustained fertility. In 2017 the globaltotal fertility rate was estimated to be 2.37 children per woman,[78] adding about 80 million people to the world population per year. In order to measure the total number of children, scientists often prefer the completed cohort fertility at age 50 years (CCF50).[78] Although the number of children is also influenced bycultural norms,religion,peer pressure and other social factors, the CCF50 appears to be most heavily dependent on the educational level of women, ranging from 5–8 children in women without education to less than 2 in women with 12 or more years of education.[78]
Emergencies and conflicts pose detrimental risks to thehealth, safety, and well-being of children. There are many different kinds of conflicts and emergencies, e.g.wars andnatural disasters. As of 2010 approximately 13 million children are displaced byarmed conflicts andviolence around the world.[79] Where violent conflicts are the norm, the lives of young children are significantly disrupted and their families have great difficulty in offering the sensitive and consistent care that young children need for their healthy development.[79] Studies on the effect of emergencies and conflict on thephysical andmental health of children between birth and 8 years old show that where the disaster is natural, the rate ofPTSD occurs in anywhere from 3 to 87 percent of affected children.[80] However, rates of PTSD for children living in chronic conflict conditions varies from 15 to 50 percent.[81][82]
Child protection (also called child welfare) is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, abandonment, and neglect.[83][84][85][86] It involves identifying signs of potential harm. This includes responding to allegations or suspicions of abuse, providing support and services to protect children, and holding those who have harmed them accountable.[87]
The primary goal of child protection is to ensure that all children are safe and free from harm or danger.[86][88] Child protection also works to prevent future harm by creating policies and systems that identify and respond to risks before they lead to harm.[89]
In order to achieve these goals, research suggests that child protection services should be provided in aholistic way.[90][91][92] This means taking into account the social, economic, cultural, psychological, and environmental factors that can contribute to the risk of harm for individual children and their families. Collaboration across sectors and disciplines to create a comprehensive system of support and safety for children is required.[93][94]
It is the responsibility of individuals, organizations, and governments to ensure that children are protected from harm and their rights are respected.[95] This includes providing a safe environment for children to grow and develop, protecting them from physical, emotional and sexual abuse, and ensuring they have access to education, healthcare, and resources to fulfill their basic needs.[96]
Child protection systems are a set of services, usually government-run, designed to protect children and young people who areunderage and to encourage family stability.UNICEF defines[97] a 'child protection system' as:
"The set of laws, policies, regulations and services needed across all social sectors – especially social welfare, education, health, security and justice – to support prevention and response to protection-related risks. These systems are part ofsocial protection, and extend beyond it. At the level of prevention, their aim includes supporting and strengthening families to reduce social exclusion, and to lower the risk of separation, violence and exploitation. Responsibilities are often spread across government agencies, with services delivered by local authorities, non-State providers, and community groups, making coordination between sectors and levels, including routine referral systems etc.., a necessary component of effective child protection systems."
— United Nations Economic and Social Council (2008), UNICEF Child Protection Strategy, E/ICEF/2008/5/Rev.1, par. 12–13.
Under Article 19 of theUN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a 'child protection system' provides for the protection of children in and out of the home. One of the ways this can be enabled is through the provision ofquality education, the fourth of the United NationsSustainable Development Goals, in addition to other child protection systems. Some literature argues that child protection begins at conception; even how the conception took place can affect the child's development.[98]
A child at a climate demonstration in Juneau, Alaska
Children are more vulnerable to theeffects of climate change than adults. TheWorld Health Organization estimated that 88% of the existing global burden ofdisease caused byclimate change affects children under five years of age.[99] ALancet review on health and climate change lists children as the worst-affected category by climate change.[100] Children under 14 are 44 percent more likely to die fromenvironmental factors,[101] and those in urban areas are disproportionately impacted by lower air quality and overcrowding.[102]
Children are physically morevulnerable to climate change in all its forms.[103] Climate changeaffects the physical health of children and their well-being. Prevailinginequalities, between and within countries, determine how climate change impacts children.[104] Children often have no voice in terms of global responses to climate change.[103]
People living inlow-income countries experience a higher burden of disease and are less capable of coping with climate change-related threats.[105] Nearly every child in the world is at risk from climate change and pollution, while almost half are at extreme risk.[106]
During the early 17th century inEngland, about two-thirds of all children died before the age of four.[108] During theIndustrial Revolution, the life expectancy of children increased dramatically.[109] This has continued in England, and in the 21st century child mortality rates have fallen across the world. About 12.6 million under-five infants died worldwide in 1990, which declined to 6.6 million in 2012. The infant mortality rate dropped from 90 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990, to 48 in 2012. The highest average infant mortality rates are in sub-Saharan Africa, at 98 deaths per 1,000 live births – over double the world's average.[107]
See also
Listen to this article (3 minutes)
This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 24 June 2008 (2008-6-24), and does not reflect subsequent edits.
^"23.8: Adulthood".LibreTexts - Biology. 31 December 2018.A person may be physically mature and a biological adult by age 16 or so, but not defined as an adult by law until older ages. For example, in the U.S., you cannot join the armed forces or vote until age 18, and you cannot take on many legal and financial responsibilities until age 21.
^ab"Convention on the Rights of the Child"(PDF). General Assembly Resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989. The Policy Press, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 31 October 2010.
^See ShorterOxford English Dictionary 397 (6th ed. 2007), which's first definition is "A fetus; an infant;...". See also ‘The Compact Edition of theOxford English Dictionary: Complete Text Reproduced Micrographically’, Vol. I (Oxford University Press, Oxford 1971): 396, which defines it as: ‘The unborn or newly born human being; foetus, infant’.
^Alam, Gajanafar (2014).Population and Society. K.K. Publications.ISBN978-8178441986.
^Postle, Martin. (2005) "The Age of Innocence" Child Portraiture in Georgian Art and Society", inPictures of Innocence: Portraits of Children from Hogarth to Lawrence. Bath:Holburne Museum of Art, pp. 7–8.ISBN0903679094
^abDel Col L (September 1930). "The Life of the Industrial Worker in Ninteenth-Century [sic] England — Evidence Given Before the Sadler Committee (1831–1832)". In Scott JF, Baltzly A (eds.).Readings in European History. Appleton-Century-Crofts.
^Malkovich A (2013).Charles Dickens and the Victorian child : romanticizing and socializing the imperfect child. New York: Routledge.ISBN978-1-135-07425-8.
^Cunningham H (July 2016). "The Growth of Leisure in the Early Industrial Revolution, c. 1780–c. 1840".Leisure in the Industrial Revolution. Routledge. pp. 15–56.doi:10.4324/9781315637679-2.ISBN978-1-315-63767-9.
^"What is child Protection?"(PDF). The United Nations Children’s Fund (UniCeF). May 2006. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 17 April 2021. Retrieved7 January 2021.
^Björk-Willén P, Cromdal J (2009). "When education seeps into 'free play': How preschool children accomplish multilingual education".Journal of Pragmatics.41 (8):1493–1518.doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2007.06.006.
^Cromdal J (2001). "Can I be with?: Negotiating play entry in a bilingual school".Journal of Pragmatics.33 (4):515–543.doi:10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00131-9.
^Butler CW (2008).Talk and social interaction in the playground. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.ISBN978-0-7546-7416-0.
^Cromdal J (2009). "Childhood and social interaction in everyday life: Introduction to the special issue".Journal of Pragmatics.41 (8):1473–76.doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2007.03.008.
^Walsh G, Sproule L, McGuinness C, Trew K (July 2011). "Playful structure: a novel image of early years pedagogy for primary school classrooms".Early Years.31 (2):107–119.doi:10.1080/09575146.2011.579070.S2CID154926596.
^Prévot-Julliard AC, Julliard R, Clayton S (August 2015). "Historical evidence for nature disconnection in a 70-year time series of Disney animated films".Public Understanding of Science.24 (6):672–680.doi:10.1177/0963662513519042.PMID24519887.S2CID43190714.
^Yun S (2014). "BreakingImaginary Barriers: Obligations of Armed Non-State Actors Under General Human Rights Law – The Case of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child".Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies.5 (1–2):213–257.doi:10.1163/18781527-00501008.S2CID153558830.SSRN2556825.
^"Define Education".Dictionary.com. Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved3 August 2014.
^Jones RK, Brayfield A (June 1997). "Life's greatest joy?: European attitudes toward the centrality of children".Social Forces.75 (4):1239–1269.doi:10.1093/sf/75.4.1239.
^Shannon MP, Lonigan CJ, Finch AJ, Taylor CM (January 1994). "Children exposed to disaster: I. Epidemiology of post-traumatic symptoms and symptom profiles".Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.33 (1):80–93.doi:10.1097/00004583-199401000-00012.PMID8138525.
^De Jong JT (2002).Trauma, War, and Violence: Public Mental Health in Socio Cultural Context. New York: Kluwer.ISBN978-0-306-47675-4.
^Nixon, Kendra L.; Tutty, Leslie M.; Weaver-Dunlop, Gillian; Walsh, Christine A. (December 2007). "Do good intentions beget good policy? A review of child protection policies to address intimate partner violence".Children and Youth Services Review.29 (12):1469–1486.doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2007.09.007.ISSN0190-7409.
^Holland, S. (1 January 2004). "Liberty and Respect in Child Protection".British Journal of Social Work.34 (1):21–36.doi:10.1093/bjsw/bch003.ISSN0045-3102.
^Wulcyzn, Fred; Daro, Deborah; Fluke, John; Gregson, Kendra (2010). "Adapting a Systems Approach to Child Protection in a Cultural Context: Key Concepts and Considerations".PsycEXTRA Dataset.doi:10.1037/e516652013-176.
^Léveillé, Sophie; Chamberland, Claire (1 July 2010). "Toward a general model for child welfare and protection services: A meta-evaluation of international experiences regarding the adoption of the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and Their Families (FACNF)".Children and Youth Services Review.32 (7):929–944.doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2010.03.009.ISSN0190-7409.
^Winkworth, Gail; White, Michael (March 2011). "Australia's Children 'Safe and Well'?1 Collaborating with Purpose Across Commonwealth Family Relationship and State Child Protection Systems: Australia's Children 'Safe and Well'".Australian Journal of Public Administration.70 (1):1–14.doi:10.1111/j.1467-8500.2010.00706.x.
^Wulcyzn, Fred; Daro, Deborah; Fluke, John; Gregson, Kendra (2010). "Adapting a Systems Approach to Child Protection in a Cultural Context: Key Concepts and Considerations".PsycEXTRA Dataset.doi:10.1037/e516652013-176.
^"Protecting Children from Violence: Historical Roots and Emerging Trends",Protecting Children from Violence, Psychology Press, pp. 21–32, 13 September 2010,doi:10.4324/9780203852927-8,ISBN978-0-203-85292-7
Cook, Daniel Thomas.The moral project of childhood: Motherhood, material life, and early children's consumer culture (NYU Press, 2020).online book see alsoonline review
Fawcett, Barbara, Brid Featherstone, and Jim Goddard.Contemporary child care policy and practice (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017)online
Hutchison, Elizabeth D., and Leanne W. Charlesworth. "Securing the welfare of children: Policies past, present, and future."Families in Society 81.6 (2000): 576–585.
Fass, Paula S.The end of American childhood: A history of parenting from life on the frontier to the managed child (Princeton University Press, 2016).
Fass, Paula S. ed.The Routledge History of Childhood in the Western World (2012)online
Klass, Perri.The Best Medicine: How Science and Public Health Gave Children a Future (WW Norton & Company, 2020)online
Michail, Samia. "Understanding school responses to students’ challenging behaviour: A review of literature."Improving schools 14.2 (2011): 156–171.online
Sorin, Reesa.Changing images of childhood: Reconceptualising early childhood practice (Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, 2005)online.
Sorin, Reesa. "Childhood through the eyes of the child and parent."Journal of Australian Research in Early Childhood Education 14.1 (2007).online
Vissing, Yvonne. "History of Children’s Human Rights in the USA." inChildren's Human Rights in the USA: Challenges and Opportunities (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2023) pp. 181–212.
Yuen, Francis K.O.Social work practice with children and families: a family health approach (Routledge, 2014)online.