The Evolution of Scrapbooking

A scrapbook or box of treasures is a representation of a specific individuals’ historical timeline. It is a book often with blank pages that is used for sticking or clipping drawings, photographs, cut out newspaper articles and virtually anything of significance to the owner and that is worthy of preservation to them. In Ludens (2016) perspective, scrapbooking is a crafting and documenting activity involving addition of photos, memorabilia, journaling and embellishments with the primary purpose of preserving memories for future generations. Andrus (2010) dates back scrapbooking as an activity that began in the 15th century prior to the invention of photography. It was mostly used by women and children, most of them taking it up as a hobby and a form of journaling. These are attributes of scrap books that have been retained to this age and in addition scrapbooks are also considered as a form of craft and creativity in the modern age. It has been taken up as a billion dollar commercial activity following in the footsteps of Marielen W, Christensen of Elk Ridge who is credited with the modernization of scrapbooking. Martin and Gillen (2013) are of the opinion that a scrapbook contains treasures of the past, and that is why it is also referred to as box of treasures. This Scrapbook outlines evidence of challenges of childhood within the period dating from 1945 to the present day.

Football

Boys playing football in Amsterdam in the early 1950s

Football is a universal game that is played in all parts of the world. Despite the harsh conditions that ensued after the end of the Second World War. Boys still engaged in playing football in parks and roadsides pavements. Children from rich families had an upper hand. They had access to actual footballs and secure playgrounds that made the games much more interesting. This as compared to the less fortunate who despite their misfortune of being in not so organized neighborhoods like slums and the actual war zones, also engaged in playing football. Lack of the balls and/or the playgrounds however was a challenge to the children back in 1940s and 1950s due to lack of laws that helped secure playing ground for children as is in the present age. This was however not a limiting factor, children kicked around empty cans and at some point developed a way of making the balls by tying together plastic bags just to have a taste of the thrills associated with playing this contemporary game. However they ended up playing in roadside pavements which was quite hazardous due to high probability of accidents. Throughout the years to the present age football has been a game played and enjoyed not only by boys but also grown men. In the early years girls didn’t play much of football. It was a game reserved for boys because it required heavy muscle and fast movement a trait displayed mostly by boys in the early ages. Cultural values also needed boys to be stronger than girls. This is because men were considered to be the heads of the family and the breadwinners so the energy was needed to be able to work and provide for their families when they grow up.

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Dolls

The kissing doll, squeezing the hands together made the doll produce a kissing sound

Dolls were mostly toys that girls played with and not only were they popular in the 1940s but just like football there is evidence of children, mostly girls from different times and Eras playing with dolls. Dolls have always been girls’ toys for it represents a baby. It has always been considered as training to girls who eventually grow up to be women and are charged with the roles of wives in the society. Up until the 21st century a woman’s major role according to cultural and ethical values, has been giving birth and taking care of children which made it reasonable for young girls to play with dolls. This was essential in training them for future roles they were set to do. The game of dolls normally included cooking for it, cleaning and playing with it, which translates to how a woman takes care of children and the family as a whole. This ethical and traditional viewing of the female children has been a challenge over the years; as a result, women grew up as less respected human beings in the society.

The Duke of Hazard

A game inspired by the movie Dukes of hazard became popular in the late 1970s and the early 1980s leading to the invention of toy sport cars that were popular among children in the same period. The Dukes of Hazard is an action-comedy television series that aired on CBS from January, 1959 to February, 1985. A set of toy cars by the same name became popular especially among children from rich families that were able to afford and have television sets within this period. Playing with these toys elicited a feel of ambition to own such vehicles upon adult hood. Over the years however up to the present age toy cars have developed from just small hand held toy cars to larger cars that can fit a Childs body size and creating an illusion of driving an actual car. Due to the traditional setting of the 1980s Era, girls were still viewed as not having the right to own anything. The traditions and cultural settings placed them among the property of men and thereby any ambition to own anything, much less vehicles was never witnessed. This is why the dukes of hazard was common mostly in the boys’ growth process and were owned mostly by boys.

A Dukes of Hazard set

Video Games

Huge technological advancements have been experienced in the last decade sprouting out in the 1990s with the advancement of laptop computers and fast internet. A large percentage of children opted out of outdoor games to playing indoor games and board games. Computer games of different types were developed by technological experts. These games are rather addictive and are engaged in by not only boys but also girls and grownups.

A play station 5 set

Over the years the Government, Nongovernmental organizations, the Media and the Public have taken keen interest in gender equality issues. This has given more power to the female gender and more liberation coming along with it. As such in the late 20th century and the 21st century boys and girls have been free to share equally in the privileges of childhood, both treated with almost equal measures. Children within this period have grown up with a great sense of awareness of their surroundings, their rights and are smart and highly educated due to the use of the internet and the presence of multiple social networks within the World Wide Web. In this age children are more liberated to choose their path and be whatever they may require to be in life. However this comes with downsides when they become addicted to the technological gadgets and spend much more time in them than more important matters like formal education. With the liberation also come great consequences like lack of discipline and more likelihood of rebellion from children. This is increasingly making parenting difficult.

Childhood in the 21st century

Asahd Khalid, son of the renowned music producer Dj Khalid

In the recent years people have taken to teach their own children their trade at an early age, somehow this is similar to the early ages of industrialization, where specialization of works was the main economical way of life. Fathers taught their children their skills with the hope that their children adapt to it and carried on to live their lives in the fathers’ ways. The mothers equally taught their daughters how to be respectable wives and women in the society. Despite the young age of Assad Khalid his father, a renowned music producer has already introduced him to the art of music production. This is in the hope that his son grows up to follow in his footsteps and gain as much success in the trade. In the recent years families especially the powerful and rich families of sportsmen, music producers, politicians, and entrepreneurs among others have taken up to involve their children in their lines of trade, enabling their childhood to have purpose and direction in the early stages of their lives.

My Experience

Growing up has been an amalgamation of experiences for me, especially coming from a family that was neither so rich nor poor. Buying toys was a luxury and as such we had to learn to make improvised toys on our own. Ranging from footballs made from plastic bags and toy cars made of boxes or wires. Some of the other playing tools included shakers made from bottle tops. Outdoor games like hide and seek, riding bicycles and the likes were also major activities we took up in our childhood days. My family shifting from one location to the other enabled me to develop sharp skills of socialization and be able to relate with children from different settings and back grounds. In addition to this, most of the strict cultural practices that were earlier on practiced and restricted boys and girls to specific games and activities while they grew up have been washed away. As such my childhood experiences involved a combination of both girls and boys engaging together in different activities. Social discrimination due to race and level of wealth has also diminished overtime and as such we had the opportunity to make friends with other children from different races as well as wealthy families. Access gadgets like mobile phones, televisions computers and videogames therefore was a possibility and enabled my exposure to a wide range of activities. Access to the internet and being able to lookup issues that affected me directly enabled me to develop a sharp instinct of problem solving and free thinking as I grew up. Despite the not so great economic background, various laws protecting children and ensuring availability of basic needs in this age made it possible for us to receive good education and have access to social amenities like playing grounds that were secure and safe during our childhood days.

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Challenges and Issues affecting Children

Aries (1962) points out in his book, Centuries of Childhood, that childhood and the concept of it, as a different and unique stage of life was an alien concept to humans until the 15th century. There were no laws or rules to protect children from adults. As a result most children passed through the hands of abusive parents and suffered neglect, abuse and exploitation. Kempe (1962) a medical practitioner was quoted by a Newsweek article in April 16th 1962 saying that battered child syndrome should be a reportable disease. This was among the first articles that sparked the medical professionals and the media outlets interests in child abuse in the 1960s and 1970s, prompting the government to take action. Laws of child protection have since been introduced and amended overtime thus enabling children to have much safer childhoods and grow up in much safer and loving families and environment. Socio-cultural traditions and ethnicity is also among the major challenges that affected childhood growth. For a very long time racism had been a disease that affected the people of America. According Gleason et al, (2010), discrimination has been a disease that adversely affected kids growing up in the 20th century. Most children undergoing racial discrimination in their early stages of growth developed irreversible conditions like anti social behavior and anger management issues. With this kind of upbringing racism has been quite difficult to erase overtime. Cultural traditions also discriminated against girls, belittling them into mere properties owned by men. Ethnicity banned intermarriage and it was unheard of that someone married anyone outside their tribe or ethnic group. This however has greatly changed in the modern age. Different culture and traditions are now taught in schools and advocated for in various public forums across the world. As asserted by Hays (2008) children are now not so much inclined to the ways of their ethnic groups as they used to be after World War II. In the view of Castelloe (2011), the ideal of companion marriage popularized in the 1920s led to the strengthening of family bonds that improved the lively hood of children. The situation however took a turn for the worst from the 1960s leading up to the current age. Castelloe (2011) says that children now endure more emotional disruption in familial relationships than ever before. With the rise of divorce cases, emergence of heterosexual families and increased dependency of foster care for children, parents are increasingly overlooking their roles in their children’s lives. This is another issue that has affected children on the society throughout the stated period. According to Fagan and Churchill (2011), divorce affects every corner of a Childs life including Religious, intellectual and health faculties. This significantly leads to the diminishing of a Childs potential as he/she goes through the growth process. Fagan & Churchill (2012) affirms that divorce has both short term and long-term effects on a child; feelings of guilt, aggression, emotional neediness, depression, anger and resentment, grief and loss are some of the immediate effects that may be experienced by a child as a result of the parents’ divorce. Some of which may persist to adult hood.

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Conclusion

Childhood is quite a significant phase in the overall development of a human being. Most of the life skills and abilities that specific individuals develop and use in the course of their lifetime are influenced by the type of childhood they have. It is therefore important to protect children monitor their growth and provide a conducive environment to enable the raising of visionary and motivated men and women to carry on with the human race.

References

Aries, P. (1960). Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life. New York. Vintage Publications

Castelloe, M. S. (2011). Changes in the American Family: How Families Have Changed Since 1960. New York: Sussex publishers

Gleason, M. Myers, T. Paris, L. and Strong-Boag, V. (2010) Lost kids: vulnerable children and youth in twentieth-century Canada and the United States. Vancouver: University of British Columbia press.

Hays, P. A. (2008). Addressing Cultural Complexities in Practice: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Therapy. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Vol. 10, pp. 11650-000

Martin, D. J., & Gillen, L. L. (2013). Revisiting Gerontology’s Scrapbook: From Metchnikoff To The Spectrum Model of Aging. Gerontologist 54 (1): 51-58

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