CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDHOOD

As you can see from this study session so far, our understanding of childhood varies
significantly from country to country and culture to culture. Similarly, our understanding
of what children need in order to experience fulfilling childhoods and to grow up healthy
varies across cultures. No universal consensus can be found as to what children need
for their optimum development, what environments best provide for those needs, and
what form and level of protection is appropriate for children at any specific age. These
definitions are influenced by personal experience, working practices, local knowledge,
law, and cultural influence.

As you consider characteristics of children, you need to recognise that every child is
unique and special in its own way. There are, however, some common characteristics of
the period of childhood, which should guide you in the way you look at and work with
children. Three of the most important are: dependency, vulnerability, and resilience.

Definitions
Dependency: having a need for the support of something or someone in order to
continue existing or to thrive.

Vulnerability: being more easily physically, emotionally, or mentally hurt, influenced, or

attacked.

Resilience: the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy,

threats or significant sources of stress.

It is important to recognise that these three characteristics are influenced by both

external and internal factors. Children do not just acquire competencies and skills
according to pre-determined biological or psychological forces. Of equal significance are
environmental factors and the ability of children to make an active contribution to their
social environments. And, of course, childhood is not a uniform period. A 17-year-old
has profoundly different needs and capacities from a 6-month-old baby.

1.6 Dependency

Children start life as dependent beings that are totally reliant on others for survival, well-being
and guidance. They need to grow towards independence. For example, babies need someone to
feed them; a school-going child will need financial and moral support to access education. But as
they develop, they become more independent. Such nurture is ideally found in adults in
children’s families, but when primary caregivers cannot meet children’s needs, it is up to society
to fill the gap.

This is a gradual process that is influenced both by the biological changes taking place, and also
the social, cultural, economic and political environment in which the child is living. Children
may have many responsibilities put upon them at a young age. As children grow up and acquire
both the capacity and the desire to take greater responsibility for themselves, they seek greater
autonomy and more involvement in decisions affecting them. This process of gradual
development and emergence from dependency is known as the child’s evolving capacities.

1.7 Vulnerability

The fact that children are still developing means they are especially vulnerable to harm.
For example, they are more at risk than adults from poverty, inadequate health care,
poor nutrition, unsafe water, inadequate housing, environmental pollution or violence.
Because of this vulnerability, adults have responsibilities to provide appropriate
protection to ensure their safety and well-being. This includes parents and other
caregivers, professionals working with children, and local communities as well as
governments.

The degree of vulnerability for each child varies according to the age of the child, their
individual characteristics and the circumstances they live in. For example, a teenager
who is visually impaired is at a higher risk of rape than a teenager who is not. Very
young children are particularly vulnerable when they are sick because their small bodies
will dehydrate very quickly. Children, especially girls, can be vulnerable to rape, child
labour and other forms of abuse because of their living environment. Children living in
slums may be particularly vulnerable to poor hygiene and sanitation, pollution, and
exposure to violence. The culture of silence and secrecy surrounding sexuality in many
African cultures exposes children to sexual abuse, and poor management of body
changes.

 Resilience

Although children are both more dependent and more vulnerable than adults, they can
display resilience in the face of adversity, risks and challenges, such as family
problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stresses. In other words,
children are not simply passive victims of what happens to them. They can exert
influence and shape their own lives. It means that children are not always overwhelmed
when they experience hardship but can recover or bounce back. Children do not all
react in the same way to traumatic and stressful life events. A number of factors
contribute to resilience. Children are most likely to display resilience if they have caring
and supportive relationships within and outside the family. These relationships can offer
love and trust, provide role models, and provide encouragement and reassurance. A
child’s culture might also have an impact on how he or she deals with adversity.
Resilience is not only influenced by the characteristics of a child (including age,
temperament, sense of humour, reasoning, sense of purpose, belief in a bright future,
and spirituality) it also involves behaviours, thoughts and actions that can be learned
and developed by any child.

Children’s individual responses to adversity can be understood in terms of ‘risk’ as well

as ‘resilience’. Risk refers to factors in a child’s life that mean they are more likely to
suffer harm. Risks might include poverty or war, harassment and abuse, neglect and
parental problems, all of which inhibit a child’s healthy development.

As a health worker, it is important to be sensitive to all these characteristics of children.

You need not only to understand and respond appropriately to children’s vulnerabilities
and to their evolving capacities, but also to recognise the competencies, skills and
strengths they bring to their own lives and to the decisions that affect them. The
following study sessions will look in more detail at the particular needs of children at
different ages, and how those needs are recognised as rights of children.

Why understanding stages of child development is important

From the moment of birth, a baby is in the process of extraordinarily rapid growth and
development. As they grow up, children develop many different capacities. These
capacities influence how they communicate, make decisions, exercise judgement,
absorb and evaluate information, take responsibility, and show empathy and awareness
of others. It is recognised in all societies that there is a period of childhood during which
children’s capacities are perceived as developing or evolving rather
than developed or evolved. When babies are born, they are completely dependent on
their caregivers for food, warmth, shelter, cleanliness, and protection from harm.
Nevertheless, even small babies are capable of communicating their needs. Through
crying, facial expressions, body language, eye contact, they are able to engage with
those caring for them, and to convey their feelings, moods and needs. As children grow
up they gradually acquire an increasing range of capacities and skills and are able to
take increasing control over their own needs.

As a health worker it is important to have some understanding of this process of

children’s development. This will enable you to assess whether or not a child is
developing appropriately, to understand what they are and are not capable of doing,
and to respond to each child’s needs and rights more effectively.

Activity 2.1: Different aspects of development

Children develop in many different ways throughout their childhood. Can you describe
what you think each of the following types of development mean? These terms will be
used throughout this study session, so it is important that you understand them.

 cognitive development

 social development

 emotional development

 physical development.
The different stages of development

The first two years

From birth through to the second year of life is the fastest period of a child’s
development. During this time, there are a number of major milestones that children
pass through as they achieve new skills and competencies. Although it is possible to
provide a general guide as to when these milestones are reached, you need to
recognise that every child is different, and will not necessarily progress at exactly the
same speed. Many factors will influence the child’s development. Children need
emotional warmth and stability, freedom from hunger, and a safe and secure
environment in which to learn and to be stimulated, with opportunities to explore and
discover. If these needs are not met, the child’s development can suffer.

Physical milestones

 At birth a child cannot engage in purposeful activities.

 By 3 months, babies can usually raise their head and chest if they are lying on their
stomach and they can deliberately open and close their hands.

 Between 4–7 months, they start to roll over.

 Between 8–12 months, they start crawling and begin to walk around the 1-year mark.

 By 2 years old, a child is likely to be able to walk unassisted, run and climb with some
assistance. They should also be able to play with objects around them depending on the
environment they are in.

Cognitive milestones

 Babies begin to develop abilities to think and reason during this period.

 By the age of 2, most children can sort objects by basic shapes and colours if they are
encouraged to do so.


 By the age of 2, they have the ability to begin pretend or imaginative play. They start to
understand simple cause-and-effect principles, such as the fact that a stone falls to the
ground if you let go of it.

 They also begin to understand that something still exists even if they can’t see it.
Social milestones

 When babies are born, they very quickly begin to recognise and respond to their primary
caregivers.

 By 12 months, they can explore objects such as toys (if they have them) with others.

 Although by the time they are 2 years old, they will play alongside other children, they
will not yet engage more directly in social forms of play or interaction.

Emotional milestones 

 By 12 months, most infants are able to observe and react to other people’s emotions.

 By the time they are approaching 2 years old, children begin to understand and assert a
sense of self. This milestone often results in the toddler’s answer of ‘no’ to a request to do
something.

 If parents encourage them, 2-year-olds can also name basic emotions, such as ‘happy’
and ‘sad’, and point them out when they see them. 

Language milestones

 From shortly after birth to around one year, a baby will begin to make speech sounds.

 At around 2 months, the baby will engage in cooing, which mostly consists of vowel
sounds.

 At around 4 months, cooing turns into babbling that consists of repetitive consonant–

vowel combinations.

 It is important to recognise that babies understand more than they are able to say. At ?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>.around 1 year old, many babies will begin to say simple words, and express
wants and needs by pointing to objects.

 By the age of 2, they will be able to put two to three words into phrases.

The pre-school years

The period between 2–5 years is a period of discovery and emerging independence for children
when they will begin to explore new forms of play and new environments. As with babies,
children do not all develop at exactly the same rate, but there are some benchmarks that provide
a general guideline of when children will acquire new capacities, behaviours and skills. It is
probably less helpful to describe these processes as milestones as they happen more gradually
than in the first two years of life.

Physical development
 Children during this period are gaining significant strength and coordination.

 They are more able to control their use of their of hands and fingers. For example, they can
dress themselves, tie a bow and do up a button.

 They acquire skills such as jumping, hopping and skipping.

 If children have the opportunity, they can start to cut with scissors, paint and draw.

Cognitive development
 2–5-year-olds are very curious.

 They are beginning to explore the cause and effect between actions and events.

 They have the ability to start to recognise letters and numbers, colours, shapes and textures.

 Their memory skills increase.

 They become more aware of things that are alike and different.

Emotional and social development

 Children start to demonstrate affection and intense feelings of fear, joy, anger and love.

 They are also able to develop a sense of humour.

 Many children enjoy showing off and demand attention.

 Children are beginning to be more aware of themselves and others.

 They are more independent, and more able to share and take turns, develop friendships and
show respect for others’ things.

Communication
 Between 2–5 years, children’s language develops, vocabulary will expand rapidly and they will
begin to engage in more complex conversations.

 Children begin to engage in a wider social circle.

 They begin to ask questions during this period – why, what, who?

 They will start to learn the correct grammar for their language.
  They develop improved listening skills.

Middle childhood 6–10 years

Progress during the ages of 6–10 years in the major areas of development is more
gradual than in the first few years of life.

Physical development
 Children aged 6 to 10 are more independent and physically active than they were in the
pre-school years.

 Strength and muscle coordination improve rapidly in these years.

 Many children learn to throw, hit or kick a ball.

 Some children may even develop skills in more complex activities, such as dancing.

Cognitive development
 Children develop a more mature and logical way of thinking. If encouraged, they become
able to consider a problem or situation from different perspectives.

 However, they are most concerned with things that are ‘real’. For example, actually
touching the fur of an animal means more to a child than being told that an object is ‘soft
like an animal’.

 Because they still can mostly consider only one part of a situation or perspective at a
time, children of this age have difficulty fully understanding how things are connected.

Social and emotional development

 Children begin to be more separate from parents and seek acceptance from teachers,
other adults, and peers.

 Children develop the ability to judge themselves and be aware of how others see them.
For the first time, they are judged according to their ability to produce socially valued
outputs, such as getting good marks in school.

 Children come under pressure to conform to the style and ideals of the peer group.

Who was Piaget and what are his

stages of development?
Jean Piaget wswwewqeeas a Swiss developmental psychologist who studied
children in the early 20th century. His theory of intellectual or cognitive
development, published in 1936, is still used today in some branches of
education and psychology. It focuses on children, from birth through
adolescence, and characterizes different stages of development, including:

 language
 morals
 memory
 reasoning

Piaget made several assumptions about children while developing his theory:

 Children build their own knowledge based on their experiences.

 Children learn things on their own without influence from adults or older
children.
 Children are motivated to learn by nature. They don’t need rewards as
motivation.

There are four stages in all:

 sensorimotor stage
 preoperational stage
 concrete operational stage
 formal operational stage

The stages cover a range of ages from birth to 2 years old to young
adulthood.
Piaget’s four stages
Piaget’s stages are age-specific and marked by important characteristics of
thought processes. They also include goals children should achieve as they
move through a given stage.

Stage Age Characteristics Goal

Motor activity without use of symbols. All

Birth to 18–24 Object
Sensorimotor things learned are based on experiences,
months old permanence
or trial and error.

Development of language, memory, and

Symbolic
Preoperational 2 to 7 years old imagination. Intelligence is both
thought
egocentric and intuitive.

More logical and methodical manipulation

Concrete 7 to 11 years Operational
of symbols. Less egocentric, and more
operational old thought
aware of the outside world and events.

Use of symbols to relate to abstract

Formal Adolescence to Abstract
concepts. Able to make hypotheses and
operational adulthood concepts
grasp abstract concepts and relationships.

Sensorimotor

The sensorimotor stage covers children ages birth to 18–24 months old.
Characteristics include motor activity without use of symbols. All things
learned are based on experiences, or trial and error.

The main goal at this stage is establishing an understanding of object

permanence — in other words, knowing that an object still exists even if you
can’t see it or it’s hidden.
Preoperational

The preoperational stage can be seen in children ages 2 through 7. Memory

and imagination are developing. Children at this age are egocentric, which
means they have difficulty thinking outside of their own viewpoints.

The main achievement of this stage is being able to attach meaning to objects
with language. It’s thinking about things symbolically. Symbolic thought is a
type of thinking where a word or object is used to represent something other
than itself.

Concrete operational

Children are much less egocentric in the concrete operational stage. It falls
between the ages of 7 to 11 years old and is marked by more logical and
methodical manipulation of symbols.

The main goal at this stage is for a child to start working things out inside their
head. This is called operational thought, and it allows kids to solve problems
without physically encountering things in the real world.

Formal operational

Children 11 years old and older fall into Piaget’s formal operational stage. A
milestone of this period is using symbols to understand abstract concepts. Not
only that, but older kids and adults can also think about multiple variables and
come up with hypotheses based on previous knowledge.

Piaget believed that people of all ages developed intellectually. But he also
believed that once a person reaches the formal operational stage, it’s more
about building upon knowledge, not changing how it’s acquired or understood.