I’m currently writing about the Rights of the Child in Uganda, and looking into the way people in Uganda think of children, and if that might differ from the way eg UNICEF thinks of children.
It got me to wondering what words you Dopers think of when you think of the word “child”.
Please tell me, without reading the others responses first, the first words that pop into your head. You can add any particular thoughts or theories you have about children if you want. It would be helpful if you include your cultural background. I guess it will be mainly US and Europe, but we have some Dopers elsewhere. You could even add how you think your cultural background might influence the way you think about kids, or how other people in your culture think about children.
I’ll add mine below, so you aren’t primed by what I say. PLEASE RESPOND BEFORE READING THE THREAD!
A miniature human of an age less than the local judgement of the age of majority, usually dependent upon relations (generally parents) for support.
One significant cultural differentiation I can see is what I referred to above as the “judgement of the age of majority.” In my (First World) experience, that’s usually either 18 or 21 depending on which specific legal entitlement you’re discussing. My expectation is that it is (significantly?) lower in Third World countries where children are expected or needed to support the family or start pulling their own weight at a younger age.
Edit to add: The use of “child” to refer to one’s grown children doesn’t usually occur to me; that is, I’m aware I’m my mother’s child, but would not usually associate the word with an adult - or would more specifically phrase that usage as “adult children.”
innocent
dependent
parents
need special protection
future
lots of work!
I’m from western Europe: the Netherlands and the UK. I think my thoughts are fairly representative of the way people here think of children, but we’ll see as more people respond I suppose…
The first thing that springs to my mind is that a child is the offspring of two parents. I am my parent’s child, they are my grandparent’s children, etc.
What I think of depends on the context. But if you’re talking about an age or maturity range, when you say “child” I think of someone older than an infant, but younger than an adolescent: old enough to walk and talk, but hasn’t yet been through puberty.
Anyone who is under about age 16 or so. Ish. Sometimes, I’ve known 40-year-old “children” and sometimes I’ve known 12-year-old “adults.” Mileage may vary. But in general, I think of someone who cannot attend to their own needs, food, shelter, clothing, education, social education, etc.
ETA: People see children as the ultimate victims. For most people this encourages a desire to protect them at any cost, but for a few people this means they’re easy to take advantage of or prey upon. People do horrible things to children they’d never dare to do to adults.
I think of a little girl maybe about 10 years old. She’s black, has a ponytail. I’m a black woman, so I guess when I think of a child, the first thing that pops in my mind is a little version of myself. If you ask the first thing I think when I hear “children,” which you didn’t, I think of some multi-ethnic, Hallmark card type bundle of kids all playing around on a schoolyard. Still about 9 or 10 years old.
Generally speaking, a child is someone who is not yet hit puberty, so just born through about 12ish?
I would also say that if a family isn’t doing well, I’d also consider a person between 12 and 18 to be a child if they were engaged in childrearing or wage-earning themselves, instead of being taken care of.
As an addendum, having been in that position myself, I was *furious *to be called (and treated) like a “child” despite very much needing that assistance, so tact is necessary.
Yeah, also part of what I’m writing about.