Should school teach sexual education in their curriculm Essay

Should school teach sexual education in their curriculm - Essay Example (Meston & Buss, 2007: 477) Nature has always been kind and benevolent to humans, and is well aware of all their spiritual, mental, physical and sexual needs and desires. Consequently, it has invented the ways to satisfy these desires in an adequate manner. Since man also seeks food for his spiritual needs, religious beliefs provide him the same in order to lead a mentally tranquil and peaceful life. Similarly, religious teachings are not confined to code of worship only; on the contrary, religions also define the methods to lead a respectable, contented and pious life. As a result, almost all existing religions recommend etiquettes to get involved into sexual union for the physical gratification on the one hand, and for the fulfillment of reproduction process on the other. Here the question arises how man should teach the young ones regarding the sexual desires growing in their minds along with the growth of their physique. Hence, there appears the question of providing of sex educat ion at school level in order to keep the teenagers well aware of this very imperative aspect of individual, collective and social life. The debate regarding the inclusion of sex education in the class curriculum has always been in vogue for the last many decades. However, being one of the most controversial issues, no decision has been made by the educationalists and administrators towards this direction as yet. Somehow, growing deviant behaviors, perversion and the creation of subsequent social problems including chemical dependency and single motherhood etc among the adolescents have appeared to be grave challenges for the societies. Eventually, the authorities look under obligation in respect of taking necessary actions towards this direction for the betterment, welfare, safety and protection of the minds and health of this innocent stratum of society. Sex education is one of the most controversial issues in education, which has been hovering over educational institutions since a ges. It is probably the most controversial topic, which will always have a divided opinion. Some people will always agree and some will always disagree. (Quoted in buzzle.com) Somehow, society still looks to be divided on this issue, and the educationalists are at the perplexed state of affairs regarding the introduction of sex education at schools. The people opposing the inclusion of sexual education as the part of curriculum take the plea that detailed description of sexual activities in the classroom will encourage the students to ask several questions about sex from teachers in the presence of the students of same and opposite genders, which will enhance the scale of frankness to the extent of vulgarity in the real sense. Since the hesitation regarding discussing this attractive topic will be removed from the minds of students belonging to lower grades, they will start getting involved into these activities in a practical way because of the removal of hesitation regarding the i ssue. Consequently, teaching the sexual lessons at school level may increase the probability of sexual relations between the school students. Furthermore, the stratum criticizing the providing of sex education argues that since they have also studied at school without getting sex education, it will be quite

Media influence over people. How governments use media Research Paper

Media influence over people. How governments use media - Research Paper Example Many media sources opposed the U.S war in Vietnam because they saw it as a waste of time and resources. In addition, media held a sensitive attitude towards the war. Media had the authority to leave a long-lasting legacy memorable on the whole nation. For instance, such legacies were the scenes of the South Vietnamese police officer shooting the temple that had his hands held together behind his back. The media incarcerated huge audiences in every bit it could in that televisions captured helmeted cops associating with protesters in Grant Park and spread it across televisions nationally during the democratic convention of 1968. It is significant to note that media was biased in the sense that it failed to mention the increasing conformist trend among American youngsters in 1960s. Media was inclined to show American youths as peace volunteers, civil rights activists and pacifists which was not the case. How media portrayed the collapse of the wall of Berlin The portrayal of the media on the fall of the Berlin barrier was trivializing the wall event. Media manipulated the truth of the matter during the scene. For instance, when the Soviet Union started to totter, journalists claimed it was a verification that the risk of totalitarian communism had never been in existence, however that was no so as per the media claims. The leftists’ journalisms attached the capitalists for exploiting the newly liberated workers after the Eastern Europe gained liberation. This was alleged by a Los Angeles reporter who claimed that communism was good in old days when the state could press personal freedom but ensure citizens were sheltered, employed and hunger free. Media never ceased to shower Cuba’s communist authoritarianism with superior press even after the communists failed in Europe when it was really tough for Cubans. The same happened with the northern Korea where the CNN Ted Turner lamely defended the dictator Kim jing-li’s treatment on his citizens. People were malnourished, thin and starving yet Ted Turner claimed there were no scenes of any form of brutality. Taylor, F. (2006) states that the collapse of the Berlin fence was one of the most significant even in the history of the world since it led to the end of tyranny and human brutality. However, it is important to note that media could have done better than what it events did. For instance, it failed to bring this happening into a historical context. Portrayal of media on Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square would always remain a political rally that turned into a bloody massacre as portrayed by the media. The scenes of brutal crackdowns in the Beijing square as china was the site of a pro-democracy student demonstration in1989; these events were aired and reported live in media all over the globe. The demonstration granted the media an opportunity for a telegenic foreign story that was easier for viewers to easily identify with. The government was so threatening that it stopped students from talking to the media. This was followed by an official news blackout and everything left in dilemma as reports were being threatened. Chinese citizens outside Beijing neither saw nor heard the true horror of the event, instead received official state versions that described the scenes as violent students demonstrator’s and angry dissidents attacking innocent government authorities. However, this was not the

Huggies brand Pull-Ups Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Huggies brand Pull-Ups - Research Paper Example A set of effective marketing strategies can be formulated if the organization or specifically the marketing department or team does a marketing research. Marketing research involves studying and analysing the ‘market’ in which the product or service is going to be sold, and it specifically involves studying the prospective customers, to whom the product or service is going to be sold, as well as other related aspects. As defined American Marketing Association (cited in Onkvisit and Shaw, 2008) â€Å"Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of data about issues relating to marketing products and services.† In addition, its goal is to identify and analyze the factors that impacts customer behaviour. Thus, when a product including baby related products like Huggies Pull-Ups is to be sold to the customers, the marketing research will be done, and as the first process key data about the customers or market to be targeted will be gathered. Then, the gathered information can be analyzed and arranged with certain tools before being presented to the management or the marketing team to study and come up with apt marketing plan. So, this paper focusing on the product of Huggies Pull-Ups will discuss how the data about it can be gathered, analyzed and presented to the management or the marketing team. ... Thus, it caters to the whole family by variety of products. â€Å"It's no surprise that our family and personal care brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex, Poise and Depend, are instantly recognizable to millions. After all, we've been in the business of providing essentials for a better life for nearly 140 years† (â€Å"Overview†, n. d). Among those products, the products for children are marketed under the brand name of Huggies, which includes the Pull-Ups. Pull-Ups are actually disposable inner pants that can be worn by children to prevent urine and motion discharge. However, it is different from normal diapers, as it uses a simple pull up method, thus enabling even small children to use it by pulling up and down like a normal pant or trouser. This product was first introduced in the year 1989, with a motto of â€Å"I'm a big kid now!†, thus implying that diapers are only for toddlers or babies, and children who have grown a little and into a small kid, needs different wear to manage their bladder and bowel movements. As a further extension of their marketing strategies, Huggies Pull-Ups incorporated colourful picture designs on the pants. For example, the pants for boys had designs in blue and they feature characters and other action figures from the children’s movies Cars and Toy Story, while, girls’ pants were predominantly designed in pink colour with pictures of Disney Princesses featured in the pant. These pictures apart from making the product entice-able have been added to reflect the unique feature of the pants, and to make the children, using it, fulfil its purpose. That is, these unique

Mao zedong's legacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mao zedong's legacy - Essay Example Some of the negative roles played by Mao Zedong include the launching of the cultural revolution where millions of people were forcefully made to do manual labor, which in return resulted to execution of tens of thousands Culture Revolution2. To date, people all over the world still visit Tiananmen Square, the burial place of Mao Zedong in order to pay homage to one person that even in his death still revere him. The essay will relay information about Mao Zedong and the reason why decades after his death, his name is still as powerful as ever. Mao Zedong, commonly known as Chairman Mao, was one of the most influential thinkers ever to rule China. Chairman Mao is known for his contribution in a number of factors especially in the republic of china. Apart from being the founder of People’s Republic of China (PRC), Mao is also the man behind numerous developments and achievements in China such improving China’s economy from agrarian to industrial level3. In China, Mao helped improve the level of education and it is through him that the republic of China is known to produce some of the most brilliant brains in the world. Apart from improving china’s education standard, Chairman Mao oversaw gender equality in China by ensuring that Chinese women had equal opportunities in any field such as education, employment and politics4. It was also during Mao Zedong’s reign that china experienced one of the highest population growth from 550 to 900 million. Although Mao Zedong’s good reputation is recognized all over the world, Mao’s legacy is also despised by a many people. This is because of the role he played during the Cultural Revolution that lasted for 10 years resulting to massive loss of lives. One of the reasons behind Mao’s initiation of the revolution program was in a move to eliminate counter-revolutionary in china, a process that took ten years5. The revolution resulted to massive destruction

Light in August Essay Example for Free

Light in August Essay William Faulkner’s celebrated novel Light in August says the tale of an orphan Joe Christmas, who has an unknown or doubtful ancestry who considers himself to be part-black. The novel includes excellent themes that involve issues of gender, race, community and religion. The capture of the racist identity and the portrayal of Calvinistic religion are the main features of the novel. Light in August is one of the best works of William Faulkner. The story starts with Lena Grove, a helpless pregnant girl (from Alabama) who set out of her house in search of her unborn baby’s father Lucas Burch. Lucas Burch had actually escaped from Lena so that he need not bear the burden of fatherhood. Lena’s hunting for Lucas Burch make her reach another man with the same name Byron Bunch. He was a simple man who makes friendship with Lena and later falls in love with her. Byron was kindhearted and provided Lena with home and security that the actual Byron Bunch (the child’s father) could not provide. After that we can see Byron narrating his feelings for Lena to the former Presbyterian minister Rev. Gail Hightower who was pushed to withdraw from his ministry as his wife committed suicide. In the middle of this strange story between Lena Grove and Lucas Burch, there appears Joe Christmas the roommate of Lucas Burch. He was an orphan working in the planing mill like Byron Bunch. The word ‘Christmas’ was added to his name as it was on the day of Christmas that he reached the orphanage. Christmas was also not sure about his ancestry as he wandered across in search of his lineage; a voyage for self-discovery. Christmas’ journey led him to Jefferson, Mississippi where he falls in a dangerous relation with Joanna Burden spinsterish civil rights activist. This affair led him to grave destruction. The most interesting theme of Light in August is the Southern issue with racial identity. Joe is mistreated and humiliated as people suspect that he has a black ancestry. They never him the way they treat white people (Dondlinger, 98-125). We can find in Light in August that majority of the characters are influenced by the notion of race disparity. For example, Joanna Burden, Joe Christmas, Doc Hines, Nathaniel Burde and lastly Percy Grimm are some or the other way influenced by the concept of race (Towner, 45-65). Some of the characters become victims of the senseless racial classification and suffer. Others who are out of this threat believe that there is nothing wrong in treating blacks inhumanly on the basis of racial difference. Racial discrimination is quite acceptable for them (Dondlinger, 98-125). For example The Jefferson sheriff, Watt Kennedy appears to be a decent man. However we can see him punishing a randomly chosen black person in an unwanted investigation (appeared unwanted at first). Similarly several other characters are found to be under the grip of the notion of race. Gender also plays a crucial role in the novel Light in August. Male-female identity and relations is an important topic. For example, we can find Joe being hostile to women. Lena’s baby’s father Lucas Burch also ran away from his pregnant wife; he was also fleeing away from women. Byron Bunch also did not have any plans to marry and was living a lonely life till Lena comes. He was adjusting his life in such a way that he could continue living alone. Rev. Gail Hightower also do not have a good fellowship with women as he led his wife to suicide. Another character Joanna Burden does not even marry. However we can find that the author never attempts to contrast the lonely life of these unfortunate characters with any happy or satisfied normal family or love relationships until the novel reaches the last chapter. We can see that the marriage of Hines and McEachern was also not a happy one. Moreover the Armstids also do not appear to have any love among them. Finally it appears to come to a happy end when Byron Bunch moves away with Lena Grove. But disappointment suddenly comes in she refuses him to share her bed. That relation also seems to be failure. The only relationship that appears to be happy is the relationship of the furniture dealer and his wife. They only had a relationship that had any trace of happiness or satisfaction.

Rural Financial Intermediation of Ghana

Rural Financial Intermediation of Ghana CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study The rural sector comprises nearly 80% of Ghanas population of 18.5 million, with rural economic activities providing employment and incomes for an estimated 60% of rural dwellers (World Bank, 2001). At the same time, nearly 30 percent of rural inhabitants live below the poverty line. However, financial services remain significantly limited at present, mainly provided by informal groups and rural banks. After relatively successful macroeconomic and financial sector reforms, the absence of strong rural and micro finance institutions have continued to impede the attainment of rapid rural economic development. Existing rural financial institutions are often community-based, with strong socio-cultural linkages. The rural banks in particular are characterized by broad-based shareholdings by community members and compared to the larger commercial banks, have a higher propensity to serve clients with low asset base, education and/or collateral, clients who otherwise would have little or no access to formal financial services. At the same time, there is an emerging network of specialized micro-financial institutions that are testing out international best practice methodologies and adapting them to Ghanaian microfinance context and situations. Given the dispersion of rural banks, the nature of community ownership, and rural client base, development of strong rural and micro finance institutions would provide a coherent framework for rural economic growth that would lead to lowered poverty rates and improved standards of living for a majority of the countrys population. Since independence the Government of Ghana (GoG) has made several attempts to promote rural development to improve the living standards of its rural people. The 1992 Constitution has made a firm commitment to rural development as part of its national strategy to improve the living conditions in rural areas through decentralization with the establishment of political and administrative regions and districts. As part of its poverty reduction strategy the Government in 2000 sought funding from the World Bank under the Rural Financial Services Project (RFSP) to promote growth and reduce poverty in Ghana by expanding the outreach of financial services in rural areas and strengthening the sustainability of the institutions providing those services. The Rural Financial Services Project Objectives The Rural Financial Services Project (RFSP) seeks to promote growth and reduce poverty in Ghana by broadening and deepening financial intermediation in rural areas through the following measures: (i) strengthening operational linkages between informal and semiformal microfinance institutions and the formal network of rural and community banks in order to expand services to a larger number of rural clients; (ii) building capacity of the rural and community banks, the principal formal financial intermediaries operating in rural areas, in order to enhance their effectiveness and the quality of services they provide; (iii) supporting the establishment of an apex structure for the rural banking system to provide the economies of scale needed for these unit rural banks to address generic constraints related to check clearing, specie supply, liquidity management and training, etc. which have impeded growth of the rural finance sector; and (iv) strengthening the institutional and policy framework for improved oversight of the rural finance sector. 1.2 Problem Statement The search for a system to tackle the financial problems of the rural dweller started as far back as the 1960s under the Nkrumah regime. During that period, the need for a veritable rural financial system in Ghana to tackle the needs of small-scale farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, market women and traders and all other micro-enterprises was felt. The need for such a system was accentuated by the fact that the bigger commercial banks could not accommodate the financial intermediation problem of the rural poor, as they did not show any interest in dealing with these small-scale operators. Governments attempt in the past to encourage commercial banks to spread their rural network and provide credit to the agricultural sector failed to achieve any significant impact. The banks were rather interested in the finance of international trade, urban commerce and industry. There was, therefore, a gap in the provision of institutional finance to the rural agricultural sector. The failure of the commercial banks to lend on an appreciable scale to the rural sector had been attributed to the lack of suitable security on the part of farmers and the high operational costs associated with small savers and borrowers. Another reason may be the centralised structure of the banking set-up, which, despite their many branches countrywide, is controlled by their Head Offices in Accra, making decentralisation ineffective. One disadvantage of this system was that a centralised institution is not able to compete with the local private money lender in local knowledge and flexibility. More important still, the branch network of many banks covered mainly the commercial and semi-urban areas and did not reach down to the rural areas. Therefore, not only were rural dwellers denied access to credit from organized institutions, they could also not avail themselves of the opportunity of safeguarding their money and other valuable property which a bank provides. It is the realization that the existing institutional credit did not favour rural development that led to the search for a credit institution devoid of the challenges /disabilities of the existing banking institutions but possessing the advantages of the non-institutional credit agencies. This institution was the rural bank. 1.3 Research Questions The study sought to answer the following research questions: i. Are there success cases in the provision of rural financial services? ii. What are the challenges faced by the implementers of the Rural Financial Service Project (RFSP)? iii. How many of the rural poor have gained access to the financial services from the Rural and Community Banks? iv. What is the impact of the Rural Financial Service Project on the performance of the Rural and Community banks and what has been the profitability levels and shareholders fund of the rural banks? 1.4 Research Objectives The primary objective of the study was to ascertain the extent to which the Rural Financial Service Project had been able to promote growth and poverty reduction by strengthening the capacity of those institutions providing financial services. Other objectives for this study are as follows: i. To identify the challenges faced by the RCBs under the RFSP. ii. To assess the impact of the project on the growth and performance of the selected RCBs in terms of profitability, shareholders funds, total assets and deposits. iii. To determine the access of rural poor to financial services. 1.5 Significance of the Study The findings of this research may inform stakeholders: Government officials, policy makers, donor agencies, the World Bank and IMF of the importance of improving and strengthening the operational efficiency of the RCBs as an important intermediary in the provision of financial services to the rural areas to aid poverty alleviation. The recommendations, it is hoped, may encourage the formulation of appropriate policies and programmes to further develop these institutions with technical and financial assistance to lead the role of improving the quality of life of the rural dwellers. Results will contribute to a better understanding of the evolving structure of rural financial services and provide an input to the financial policy made by policy makers especially Bank of Ghana. 1.6 Scope of the Study The sampling area of the study covers 127 Rural and Community Banks in Ghana out of which five selected Rural and Community Banks in the Eastern, Ashanti and Greater Accra regions under the Rural Financial Service Project were considered as the sample size. These RCBs include Bosomtwe Rural Bank, Upper Manya Krobo Rural Bank, Ga Rural Bank, Nwabiagya Rural Bank and Dangme Rural Bank. The study looked at the financial performance of the Rural and Community Banks in Ghana between the period of 2002 and 2006 and also the impact of the RFSP on the selected RCBs. Impact was measured by growth in Profitability, Total deposits, Shareholders funds and access of rural poor to financial services. 1.7 Organization of the Study In order to present a systematic and consistent research, chapter one introduces the background of the study, the problem statement, the research questions, the objectives, significance of the study, and the scope of the study. Chapter two which is the literature review which will throw more light on related studies and concepts of rural financial service project, financial intermediations in the rural areas, challenges of rural financial intermediation and traditional approach to rural finance. Chapter three deals with the methodology adopted in the collection data for the research, description of the field instrument, procedure and data analysis. Chapter four is the presentation of results, interpretation and discussion of the results. Chapter five provides a summary of the study, the conclusions, limitations and recommendations of the study. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction Financial intermediation is a pervasive feature of all of the worlds economies. As Franklin Allen (2001) observed in his AFA Presidential Address, there is a widespread view that financial intermediaries can be ignored because they have no real effects. They are a veil. They do not affect asset prices or the allocation of resources. As evidence of this view, Allen pointed out that the millennium issue of the Journal of Finance contained surveys of asset pricing, continuous time finance, and corporate finance, but did not survey financial intermediation. Here we take the view that the savings-investment process, the workings of capital markets, corporate finance decisions, and consumer portfolio choices cannot be understood without studying financial intermediaries. 2.2 Importance of Financial Intermediaries Why are financial intermediaries important? One reason is that the overwhelming proportion of every dollar financed externally comes from banks. In the United States for example, 24.4% of firm investment was financed with bank loans during the 1970 1985 periods. Bank loans are the predominant source of external funding in all the countries. In none of the countries are capital markets a significant source of financing. Equity markets are insignificant. In other words, if finance department staffing reflected how firms actually finance themselves, roughly 25 percent of the faculty would be researchers in financial intermediation and the rest would study internal capital markets. As the main source of external funding, banks play important roles in corporate governance, especially during periods of firm distress and bankruptcy. The idea that banks monitor firms is one of the central explanations for the role of bank loans in corporate finance. Bank loan covenants can act as trip wires signaling to the bank that it can and should intervene into the affairs of the firm. Unlike bonds, bank loans tend not to be dispersed across many investors. This facilitates intervention and renegotiation of capital structures. Bankers are often on company boards of directors. Banks are also important in providing liquidity by, for example, backing commercial paper with loan commitments or standby letters of credit. Banking systems seem fragile. Between 1980 and 1995, thirty-five countries experienced banking crises, periods in which their banking systems essentially stopped functioning and these economies entered recessions. (See Demirg-Kunt, Detragiache, and Gupta (2000), and Caprio and Klingebiel (1996). Because bank loans are the main source of external financing for firms, if the banking system is weakened, there appear to be significant real effects (e.g., see Bernanke (1983), Gibson (1995), Peek and Rosengren (1997, 2000)). Basically, financial intermediation is the root institution in the savings-investment process. Ignoring it would seem to be done at the risk of irrelevance. So, the viewpoint of this paper is that financial intermediaries are not a veil, but rather the contrary. In this paper, we survey the results of recent academic research on financial intermediation (Gorton and Winton, 2000). 2.3 The Existence of Financial Intermediaries The most basic question with regard to financial intermediaries is: why do they exist? This question is related to the theory of the firm because a financial intermediary is a firm, perhaps a special kind of firm, but nevertheless a firm. Organization of economic activity within a firm occurs when that organizational form dominates trade in a market. In the case of the savings-investment process, households with resources to invest could go to capital markets and buy securities issued directly by firms, in which case there is no intermediation. To say the same thing in a different way, non-financial firms need not borrow from banks; they can approach investors directly in capital markets. Nevertheless, most new external finance to firms does not occur this way. Instead it occurs through bank-like intermediation, in which households buy securities issued by intermediaries who in turn invest the money by lending it to borrowers. Again the obligations of firms and the claims ultimately owned by investors are not the same securities; intermediaries transform claims. The existence of such intermediaries implies that direct contact in capital markets between households and firms is dominated. Why is this? is the central question for the theory of intermediation (Gorton and Winton, 2000). Bank-like intermediaries are pervasive, but this may not require much explanation. On the liability side, demand deposits appear to be a unique kind of security, but originally this may have been due to regulation. Today, money market mutual funds may be good substitutes for demand deposits. On the asset side, intermediaries may simply be passive portfolio managers, that is, there may be nothing special about bank loans relative to corporate bonds. This is the view articulated by Fama (1980). Similarly, Black (1975) sees nothing special about bank loans. Therefore, we begin with an overview of the empirical evidence, which suggests that there is indeed something that needs explanation. 2.4 Empirical Evidence on Bank Uniqueness What do banks do that cannot be accomplished in the capital markets through direct contracting between investors and firms? There is empirical evidence that banks are special. Some of this evidence also attempt to discriminate between some of the explanations for the existence of financial intermediaries discussed below. To determine whether bank assets or liabilities are special relative to alternatives, Fama (1985) and James (1987) examine the incidence of the implicit tax due to reserve requirements. Their argument is as follows: Over time, U.S. banks have been required to hold reserves against various kinds of liabilities. In particular, if banks must hold reserves against the issuance of certificates of deposit (CDs), then for each dollar of CDs issued, the bank can invest less than a dollar. The reserve requirement acts like a tax. Therefore in the absence of any special service provided by bank assets or bank liabilities, bank CDs should be eliminated by non-bank alternatives. This is because either bank borrowers or bank depositors must bear the tax. Since CDs have not been eliminated, some party involved with the bank is willing to bear the tax. Who is this party? Fama finds no significant difference between the yields on CDs and the yields on commercial paper and bankers acceptances. CD holders do not bear the reserve requirement tax and he therefore concludes that bank loans are special. James revisits the issue and looks at yield changes around changes in reserve requirements and reaches the same conclusion as Fama. Another kind of evidence comes from event studies of the announcement of loan agreements between firms and banks. Studying a sample of 207 announcements of new agreements and renewals of existing agreements, James (1987) finds a significantly positive announcement effect. These contrasts with non-positive responses to the announcements of other types of securities being issued in capital markets (see James 1987) for the references to the other studies). Mikkelson and Partch (1986) also look at the abnormal returns around the announcements of different type of security offerings and also find a positive respons e to bank loans. Tables 12 provide a summary of the basic set of results. There are two main conclusions to be drawn. First, bank loans are the only instance where there is a significant positive abnormal return upon announcement. Second, equity and equity-related instruments have significantly negative abnormal returns. James (1987) concludes, banks provide some special service not available from other lenders (p. 234). 2.5 Mechanisms to Improve Financial Intermediation Recent developments in growth theory have stimulated renewed interest in the interactions of financial intermediation and growth. While most of the existing literature analyses the risk- sharing function of financial intermediaries, Raju Jan Singh, 1997 focused on the asset-valuation activity of banks. Following the early contributions of Goldsmith (1969), McKinnon (1973) and Shaw (1973), a general equilibrium endogenous growth model is presented, in which financial intermediaries increase the amount of accumulated capital, improve the mobilization of savings and enhance the efficiency of resource allocation. As in Greenwood and Jovanovic (1990) and King and Levine (1993b), banks are shown to be able to improve their lending efficiency by evaluating projects. Unlike the models presented by these authors, the banks evaluation capacity is not assumed to be exogenous. The ability of banks to gather the information needed to undertake this evaluation is linked to proximity, and the notion of geography may thereby be introduced. A link between proximity and faster growth rates can thus be shown, consistent with the observations of historians such as Cameron (1967). Furthermore, Singh, 1997 showed that a bank can improve the efficiency of its lending by opening branches. A poor branch network would thus affect negatively the economic growth rate, as Cameron (1967) suggests in the case of France in the 19th century. By contrast, relaxing regulations limiting the setting up of branches would promote faster growth, as Jayaratne and Strahan (1996) observe in the case of the United States. The size of the financial sector is therefore not the only important variable; its structure and the distribution of its deposits matter likewise. The model presented by Raju Jan Singh, 1997 could be extended in various ways. The contract offered by the bank to its potential borrowers could be enriched by the inclusion of other variables besides the interest rate. For instance, collateral requirements might be considered. Cash-flow or corporate net wealth could also be introduced as additional sources of information for banks. In this context, the proportion of entrepreneurs being evaluated might appear to be dependent on the size of the latter only, and not only on the proximity of a bank branch. 2.6 Effect of Financial Intermediaries The finance-growth nexus can be theoretically postulated only within the endogenous growth framework. Financial intermediation, by reducing information and transaction costs, can affect economic growth through two channels; productivity and capital formation. With regard to the first channel, it is generally argued that financial intermediaries by facilitating risk management, identifying promising projects, monitoring management, and facilitating the exchange of goods and services, can promote efficient capital allocation leading to a total factor productivity improvement (Levine, 1997). For example, Greenwood and Jovanovic (1990) shows that financial intermediation provides a vehicle for diversifying and sharing risks, inducing capital allocation shift toward risky but high expected return projects. This shift then spurs productivity improvement and economic growth. Diamond and Dybvig (1983) argues that households facing liquidity risks prefer liquid but low-yield projects to illiquid but high-yield ones, while financial intermediaries, through pooling the idiosyncratic liquidity risks, would like to invest a generous portion of their funds into illiquid but more profitable projects. Bencivenga and Smith (1991) argue that financial inte rmediaries by eliminating liquidity risks, channel households financial savings into illiquid but high-return projects and avoid the premature liquidation of profitable investments which favours efficient use of capital and promotes economic growth. The impact of financial intermediation on growth through the second channel-capital formation-is ambiguous. Tsuru (2000) argues that financial intermediation could affect the savings rate, and then capital formation and growth, through its impact on four different factors: idiosyncratic risks, rate-of-return risks, interest rates and liquidity constraints. By reducing idiosyncratic risks and relaxing liquidity constraints, financial intermediation might lower the savings rate and negatively affect growth. By reducing the rate-of-return risks through portfolio diversification, financial intermediation might negatively or positively influence the savings rate, depending on the risk aversion coefficient (Levhari and Srinivasan, 1969). Finally, the development of financial intermediation might raise the rate of return for households savings, which also has an ambiguous effect on the savings rate due to well-known income and substitution effects. In addition, financial intermediaries effi ciency amelioration could cut the financial resources absorbed by themselves, and raise the portion of households savings converted into productive investment which favors capital formation and growth. In conclusion, the theoretical literature shows that the development of financial intermediation affects economic growth mainly through its impact on the efficiency of capital use and the improvement of total factor productivity, while its growth effect through the savings rate and capital formation is theoretically ambiguous. 2.7 Introduction to Rural Financial Services Rural financial services refer to all financial services extended to agricultural and non-agricultural activities in rural areas; these services include money deposit/savings, loans, money transfer, safe deposit and insurance. Demanders/beneficiaries of rural financial services are mainly households, producers, input stockists/suppliers, traders, agro-processors and service providers. Rural financial services help the poor and low income households increase their incomes and build the assets that allow them to mitigate risk, smoothen consumption, plan for future, increase food consumption, invest in education and other lifecycle needs. These needs can be broadly categorized into working capital, fixed asset financing, income smoothing and life cycle events. Access to credit and financial services have the potential to make a difference between grinding poverty and economically secure life. Inspite of the importance of a savings account, 77 percent of Kenyan households have no access to a bank account (Kodhek, 2003). In the late 1990s, most mainstream commercial banks closed down some rural branches in order to cut costs and improve profits. The non-traditional financial institutions have emerged to fill the gap created by the mainstream banks which locked out low income and irregular earners. 2.8 Financial Intermediation in Rural Areas Financial intermediation is crucial for the development of rural villages. If these intermediations are used properly, they can help the rural residents increase their income. Likewise, banks and financial intermediaries may be able to recover expenses and make a profit by attracting deposits and granting rural loans. Several reasons are given in favour of financial intermediation. It is argued that rural financial markets (RFMs) reduce the cost of exchanging real resources. Financial intermediations also enhance a more efficient resource allocation. Firms and individuals may have different investment and consumption alternatives. Thus, some of them want to save at the time others plan to invest. Banks satisfy both desires. In addition, financial intermediation causes gains in risk management. Rural producers are typically subject to large variations in income and expenditure. Rural production heavily depends on the weather and price fluctuations. For example, expenditures may be hea vy at planting periods while income is realized with harvest. Therefore loans and savings are important and inexpensive ways to manage at least part of households risks. Moreover, financial intermediation may allow a farmer to undertake larger investments. For instance, a loan may permit a rural producer to buy a tractor before being able to save enough money to buy one with cash. Likewise financial intermediaries can benefit large number of households by accepting their short term deposits and providing a fewer borrowers with longer-term loans. In fact, savers, borrowers and intermediaries gain from this transformation of term structures that take place through intermediation. In addition financial intermediaries that deal with borrowers as savers reduce the information asymmetry characteristic of RFMs. By observing the savings patterns of customers, they obtain information about the income and wealth of clients. By that banks are better able to assess the quality of borrowers and reduce default risk. The drawback is that there is a general tendency for governments in less developed countries (LDCs) to interfere in RFMs. Thus few observers of formal RFMs in LDCs are satisfied with their recent performance. Markets are highly fragmented; they provide little services to rural residents; political interest interferes with RFMs operations; and official lenders are frequently on the edge of bankruptcy. RFMs in LDCs do not work like the classic competitive markets. On the contrary, some imperfections are characteristic of rural banks. These imperfections lead to a variety of problems. For example, the available information is imperfect or asymmetric. These are classic problems of RFMs. Borrowers differ in the likelihood of default. However, it is costly to determine the risk of default of each borrower. This problem is conventionally known as the screening problem or sometimes it is called the adverse selection problem (see Srinivasan, 1994, p. 15). Moreover, it is also costly to ensure that borrowers take actions that facilitate repayment. This situation is known in the related literature as the incentive problem or moral hazard problem. This problem turns out to be particularly severe when rural banks lend money at concessionary interest rates. That is the way most governments run credit programmes. If a farmer receives cheap money he will not display enough effort to ensure repayment. For instance, in the presence of high interest rates, borrowers may select investment projects that have higher potential pay-offs but a greater risk. These sort of economic activities (investments) require more effort from the borrower to be successful. Finally, it is also costly to enforce the credit contracts. This factor gives rise to the enforcement problem of rural financial markets. There is very little or no penalty in default cases in rural areas of LDCs. Therefore, seldom are the borrowers expected to be sanctioned for loan delinquency. Often it is found that some rural borrowers may be able but unwilling to repay. In addition, in many LDCs property rights are poorly defined so that actions against collateralized assets are ineffective. Governments of many LDCs often, for political reasons, engage in credit relaxation programmes, which diminish borrowers incentive to make their projects successful. Therefore, it is not surprising that government-run credit suffers from a tremendous default problem. The final result is that RFMs have not developed as real and effective capital markets. In the absence of capital markets, individuals turn to moneylenders. The common belief is that moneylenders charge monopoly interest rates, which capture borrowers returns from credit. To overcome those problems innovative credit policy interventions are required. Some few new financial institutions are now being successful to combat market imperfections. Among such institutions are the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and some of its replications. For instance, group lending allows the financial institutions to transfer risk and transactions costs to credit recipients. It also permits some banking firms to monitor borrowers with other borrowers. 2.9 Current evidence: what we know 2.9.1 Challenges to Rural Financial Intermediation Hoff and Stiglitz (1990) and Besley (1994) have identified three major constraints to financial market development: information asymmetries between market participants; lack of suitable collateral; and high transaction costs. Risk related to agriculture, and to government and donor policies towards agriculture, should be added as a fourth major constraint to rural finance counting for the poor. Demirguc-Kunt and Levine (2004) noted that efficient contract enforcement, related to a supportive legal framework and robust internal operating systems in formal financial intermediaries (FFIs) is very important in the development of the financial sector and the economy as a whole. Constraints to the development of rural financial markets are discussed in more detail below. 2.9.1.1 Information Asymmetry This occurs when borrowers have more information about the out-turn of their investment and greater capacity to repay loans than lenders (Stiglitz and Weiss, 1981). FFIs usually attempt to reduce this problem by screening out high-risk borrowers from their track record (including credit performance, transactions on deposit accounts, cash flow statements and other accounts). However, in the case of most rural customers, this is not possible, because many keep no record of their transactions and/or do not use payment facilities of banks. In addition, access to borrower information is impeded by a lack of efficient transport, communications infrastructure and well-functioning asset registries and databases. 2.9.1.2 Risk High, and often covariant, risks in the rural economy are related to the dominance of agriculture, which accounts for a high percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (one third in the case of Africa) and employment (two-thirds in Africa) (UNDP Human Development Report, 2000). The long gestation period for many agricultural investments and the seasonality of output usually lead to uneven cash flow and variable demand for savings and credit. Agricultural production is largely dependent on the weather and the use of productivity-enhancing inputs is very low (both leading to yield or production risk), especially in sub-Saharan Africa where the average consumption of fertilizer is only 1015 kg per hectare, compared to about four times that on the Indian sub-continent (Pinstrup- Andersen et al., 1999). African yields are therefore very low and have risen only slightly since the 1980s (Badiane et al., 1997). Lack of credit is a major factor limiting the ability of smallholders to procure a

Discuss the meaning of childhood

Discuss the meaning of childhood The idea of a child is contested throughout the world. It is first important to distinguish the difference between the terms child and childhood. The dictionary defines a child as a boy or girl from the time of birth until he or she is an adult, or a son or daughter of any age which is a very vague generalization (Cambridge dictionary, 2009) Defining the word childhood presents similar problems, as again the dictionary is of very little assistance merely stating that childhood is the time when someone is a child (Cambridge dictionary, 2009). It is therefore essential to find a more valid definition of a child. Many factors affect the way a childhood is defined, such as the period of history in which the characterization was developed as well as the culture it has transpired from. The thesis of what a child and what childhood is will not be the same globally, although there may be similar themes around which the definition is based. These similarities often include the use of age as a boundary for childhood, the exploration of psychological and biological aspects to childhood and the concept of independence. Mills (2003: 8) also outlines the cultural, geographical, historical and gender based theories on what childhood is. A child in a third world country will have experiences that are a polar opposite to that of a typical child from a western country. This difference in experiences therefore has an effect on the definition given by that particular culture as to what childhood is. Ergo, an important question that arises is whether childhood is shortened by experience or enriched. The UK defines a child as any person, regardless of gender, under the age of eighteen, in accordance with UN policy based upon the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (NSPCC, 2009).This is a basic biological definition of a child that is accepted by the majority of UN countries. Gamage (1992) however argues that childhood end around the age of ten. Clearly, defining childhood is not a clear cut task. There are different angles to look at when defining childhood from a socio-economic perspective. Cultural differences are a massive factor that needs to be taken into account when attempting to define childhood. Culture affects the way a child is seen which in turn affects the individual child and how they perceive their early role in society. It is the variety in culture globally which leads to ethical complications in cross-cultural adoption, as the UNCRC outlines that a child has the right to know and practice its cultures traditions, however if a child is uprooted from its original setting, does that mean that it should disregard the surrounding it began life in favour of adopting new traditions and languages? We often act in an ethnocentric style which is the opinion that ones own way of life is natural, correct, indeed the only true of being human (Schultz and Lavenda 1990: 32) Ethnocentrism can even be seen in the UNCRC. Whilst it complies with human rights, it can be seen to clash with individual societies for example; some tribes have entirely different traditions and regimes for the treatment of children compared to that outlined in the UN legislation. It is unfair to say that a tribes way of doing things is incorrect yet some of their traditions can be seen as cruel and as infringing the articles of the UNCRC. The ignorance between cultures can create an atmosphere of fear. The lack of understanding we have for unknown societies makes it difficult for us to understand their traditions and how they affect their societies definition of childhood. New problems arise however if we become all consumed with legislation and political correctness for example in Britain schools have begun to replace their nativity plays with a more generalised holiday themed performance. The attempts to be politically correct are preventing British children from learning about their own culture. Nutbrown (1996 ) refers to seeing children as passive recipients of knowledge as adults in waiting which is interesting as it leans towards the idea that children are perhaps not people in their own rights, merely half filled vessels. This is obviously a very odd perspective, as it is taking away the idea of childhood being a key stage in its own right, and focusing on the concept of it just being part of the development to becoming an adult. Nutbrown points out the difficulties in this view, as it infers that the world created for children is not based on their contemporary needs. She writes Perspectives on childhood that include the concept of children as adults in waiting do not value children as learners and therefore create systems of educating and designing curricula, that can be narrow minded rather than open minded and which transmit to children rather than challenge children to use their powers as thinkers and nurture their humanity. Kakar (1981: 18) points out that this is not a global view, and as always, culture is critical to defining childhood. Kakar claims that the word childhood is a fully meaningful word-in-itself in certain areas in countries such as India and China. This emphasis on the word means that the period of life known as childhood is to these cultures an individually important part of life, not just a prerequisite to adulthood. It is particularly interesting to compare different experts key social constructions of childhood. Richard Mills (2003: 9) looks at the ideas of children as innocent, apprentices, and vulnerable whereas in a rather different approach Chris Jenks (1990: 36) explores children as savage, Dionysian and Apollonian. Mills concept of an apprentice being a construction of childhood links to Nutbrown as it refers to the idea that children are merely adults in training. This is a persistent theme throughout defining childhood. Mills, when referring to children as innocent, claims that they are in need of protection, and are representative of good and purity. He talks about the child developing through the gradual acquiring of secret knowledge. For Postman these secrets are to do with sexual relations, money, violence, illness, death and language (Mills ) If Postman is correct in saying that obtaining such information equates to the end of childhood, then by that understanding, it is fair to say that a child who has suffered sexual abuse or the death of a loved one is no longer a child. Postmans ideas can be linked to the ideas of class defining childhood. It is generally fair to say that children from more financially stable backgrounds appear to have in general a more idyllic childhood than those less fortunate. However this doesnt necessarily increase the time that they are a child if Postman is to be believed, as class has little impact on how or when a child discovers the adult secrets. Obviously they are less likely to encounter child labour, however they are not automatically protected from death or sexual knowledge. In a broader sense, parallels to this can be seen internationally, for example, the chances of a child being in labour instead of education are far higher in India than they are in France. The economic standing of a country has a knock on effect on how children are viewed socio-economically. In poorer countries childhood is cut short due to a need for additional income, whereas in most Western countries, children enjoy a full education whilst earning a living is down to the parents. Gender is also a socio-economic aspect of defining childhood, as it is generally believed that girls mature sooner than boys. Does this therefore mean that if you are female, your childhood has been cut short in comparison to your male peers? If the answer is yes, then this should perhaps impact upon laws and legislation. For example, it could be possible that girls could have a younger age of employment to that currently enforced for both genders. This is not necessarily fair on either boys or girls, but it could be a possible way to further define childhood. It is clear that children are defined differently depending on the socio-economic background they come from, whilst this makes it difficult to pinpoint a pr ecise definition of childhood, it is critical to appreciate all different views and ideas, whether or not they comply with our own views. Historically, the constructions of childhood span a range of different phases. Perhaps most importantly is the work of Aries (Palaiologou 2009) who claims that childhood as a concept wasnt even around until the sixteenth century at which point in England, the Christian church began to get involved in educating children with very basic Sunday schools. The ideas out forth by Aries are a source of much debate as they raise a lot of questions and there are theorists who disagree with the ideas put forth by Aries and who claim that childhood has always been present throughout history. If Mills is to be believed when talking about children being in need of both physical and emotional protection, then surely Aries cannot be correct. The parental urge to protect must have been somewhat present throughout all of history, almost like an animal instinct. A key argument against Aries is that in Ancient Greece there was a development of the idea of education in a more formal style. However, this doesnt necessarily mean that childhood was seen as a particularly separate stage, and it still only existed very loosely. Prominent aspects of British childhoods such as fairytales did not exist purely for children in Ancient Greece, but as entertainment for the whole family. In his book Centuries of Childhood Aries highlights the fact that as soon as children were able to exist without needing constant care then they became seen in the same way as adults. Yet, there is still a stage where it is recognized that the infant needs care and attention from an adult, so this can be seen as recognition of childhood. One explanation for this limitation on recognizing childhood as a key phase has groundings in the economic needs throughout history. Children were often required to work from a young age as is still often the case and so this had the effect of often calling a halt to their time as a child. The rise in popularity of Christianity led to the beginning of childhood as we know it today. The concepts of children as innocent as mentioned previously began to materialize, and with it a stronger sense of the need to protect the younger generation. The church stepped in at the helm of education and began to mould the youth. There was a focus on removing the devilish side from children, and it can be seen that the church was leaning towards indoctrination rather than education. Evangelicals took it upon themselves to fight against the possibility of children committing sins. Along with the idea of children as innocent, had come the idea that they as the future, needed to be washed of sins the implication being that they had already sinned. Obviously families were quite enthusiastic about this need to remove the devil and keep their children pure. It wasnt until 1876 that education became compulsory for all children aged ten and under. However, childhood was still seen as just a prerequisite to adulthood, rather than a defined period of life in its own right. It wa s not just education and work that came early to children throughout history either. Marriage and children were on the agenda at the same time we would be moving into junior schools. The laws for children were no different to that of adults and so children enjoyed no rights of their own. This is not dissimilar to criminal law in America, where children are tried in a similar way to adults. It wasnt until 1889 when children began to be recognized legally, and some pinpoint this as the beginning of childhood as we know it. Throughout history the definition of childhood has been vague and insipid until more recently, however it is key to look back at how childhood was viewed to understand how to define it in a more contemporary fashion. The specific needs and rights of children help us to define them further. The UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children) is a piece of UN legislation aimed to protect children globally, as well as outline a cohesive set of guidelines for the rights of the child. As previously stated, the UN outlines the age of a child as being up to eighteen years of age for the majority of UN countries. The articles found in the UNCRC are not massively dissimilar to those based around general human rights. The main difference between the legal rights of a child and adult is, as articles five and eighteen outline, stating that the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child [is with the parent] (UNCRC, Childrens Rights Alliance) This can be seen as a limitation to the childs rights, as they are somewhat dependant on an adult to ensure the rights outlined are provided for them. The legislation came about due to political pressure from various UN countries, w hich led to a domino effect as countries fell to pressure from more major players in the UN collaboration. The overall aim was seen as a way of making children equals in the world and redefine the way adults view them as completely separate from culture and society. It is also important in outlining the role of parents in a childs life with article eighteen focusing on parental responsibilities outlining that the [parents] have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child . Often the blame for a failure on behalf of parents is laid at the door of the government and various departments designed to ensure the safety of children. Whilst it is valid to say that in cases, such as the recent Baby P, some responsibility for such tragedies does need to be dealt to official bodies, it is also key to note that the parents or carers are, according to legislation, the people mainly responsible for the protection of their child and as such should not be able to enti rely pass of their wrong doings as the fault of the government for not monitoring them sufficiently. It is interesting to note that the UNCRC is has the highest rate of ratification compared to all other conventions, with only Somalia and the USA rejecting the convention. It has also been seen to directly affect the policies of the countries involved, for example, in Britain the introduction of Every Child Matters. It can also be said that the legislation has assisted in changing traditional views of childhood. Children traditionally were often seen as half-formed adults rather than as individuals. In some ways, by defining childrens rights, and then being so similar to those of adults, its enabled people to stop seeing children as yet to be and instead focus on them as they are. Issues with the UNCRC legislation however, are the differences in the range of cultures it is applied to sometimes clash with the outlined rights of the child. This raises the problem of what is more import ant, culture or the fulfilment of a childs needs and the protection of their rights. The UNCRC itself outlines the importance of keeping children connected to their own heritage and culture with article thirty in particular focusing on the rights of children to enjoy his or her own culture.[and] to participate fully in cultural and artistic life. However it is sometimes difficult to comply with this without limiting the effectiveness of other aspects of the legislation. Also, whilst the UNCRC is an official agreement, it is not a law. There are no real penalties for not complying with the various parts of the legislation, and it is incredibly difficult to monitor. Countries make reports every five years on development, which gives a rather stinted, separated view of how countries are implementing different schemes to corroborate with the legislation put forth. Unfortunately the UNCRC also raises some rather big political issues, such as the idea that the modern, western world is per haps enforcing unattainable and unrealistic goals upon poorer countries. Not only does this lead to their underperformance, but also to conflict between their cultures and the legislation they are being presented with. Also, do people want to see children differently, and do children want their roles to change? All these are major issues raised by the implementation on this global legislation upon unequal and incredibly different countries. However, it isnt all negative. Overall, the positives of the UNCRC far outweigh the negatives as the need to protect and provide for the needs of children is crucial, and this legislation goes a long way in ensuring that children are protected in a suitable manner, even if its effectiveness doesnt span the whole globe in an efficient manner. Children who are in labour rather than education are another construction of childhood to look at. Obviously the UNCRC has a clause aimed at preventing children from having full time jobs, especially that intrude with education but this cannot be successfully be implemented globally. Again, based on previously discussed concepts of childhood, it surely makes sense that if a child is at work then this is a blatant trespass upon their rights as outlined by the UNCRC and again, children are being thrust into a world of adult secrets. There is no glamorous side to child labour, the hours are often extreme, the pay laughable and the job itself more than often horrific for example young children forced into the sex trade. Their innocence robbed. Jobs such as this are in direct defiance of article thirty-two of the convention which states children are to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work which is hazardous. It is from the convention that a minimum age was applied to all jobs in the UK and other countries, and hours workable limited also. However, there are still approximately three hundred and fifty-two million children in labour deemed hazardous globally. The problem is that child labour is often not a choice for the child or the family, as they are forced into jobs due to economic desperation. Poverty is often so crippling that people have no option other than to allow their child to work. Bonded labour is common is some countries, which is where the child is basically pawned off for a sum of money, in exchange for their labour. Again, the UNCRC is placed under strain in this situation, as whilst such activity is clearly in breach of the legislation, it is fair to say that the UNCRC cannot prevent a family earning a living through any means possible in order to avoid complete poverty. This obviously has an impact on defining childhood, as it is difficult to see a boy of seven who does a sixteen-hour shift in a sweat-shop as still b eing a child in the middle of childhood. Biologically and in accordance to law, he would be a child, but his obviously different lifestyle, compared to a typical British child, prevents him from being a true child. In conclusion, it is incredibly difficult to define childhood. In the contemporary climate, it is fair to say that a basis around age, as is stated in the UNCRC and a majority of countries domestic policies. The age of eighteen is perhaps too high from a biological stance, as puberty has basically reached its conclusion by this time, however psychologically it can be seen as advantageous. As has been highlighted, children are not emotionally ready for what may be referred to as adult topics, such as death, sex and money. The frequent introduction of these topics into childhoods seems to have no benefit to the child, in fact it seems in most cases to be detrimental to childrens happiness. Child labour, in particular the sex trade, is horrific not just biologically as children are expected to work long hours in jobs their bodies are not yet prepared for, but also the emotional impact it has can be seen to devastate lives. So in this sense, the age barrier often used when defining child hood is incredibly important. The legislation used to protect children is also key to defining them. The UNCRC, obviously outlines age as a specific part of the legislation, but also, looking at the rights themselves, and the emphasis on the need for protection and the focus on development is incredibly telling when trying to define childhood. As well as being an period of both biological and emotional fragility, usually defined by age, it is also a time during which individuals are dependent on adults, not just for material things, but also emotional support and love. Also, looking back through history highlights the importance of not underestimating the importance of childhood as a period of life in its own right, rather than ignoring it as just a build-up to adult life. Obviously in some ways, it is a developmental period, preparing individuals for the future, however it is still a distinct section of life in its own right and should be valued as such. The implications of the different constructions of childhood are varied throughout the world. The historical aspects outline the importance of not ignoring childhood as a period in its own right. If we try to force an adult-centred curriculum on children rather than nurturing their abilities in the here and now it will lead to a generations of people confused about their identities, due to the lack of time they were given to develop themselves. In terms of schooling and policies for children, focusing on Britain, the major change so far has been the implementation of the Every Child Matters (ECM) (Dcsf) scheme designed to prevent repeats of the tragedy of Victoria Climbie , the young African girl who was tortured by her family until she died. It also stems from the UNCRC. The purpose of ECM is to unite the various agencies concerned with the wellbeing of children, such as social services, schools and health workers. From this, the Common Assessment Framework was developed to enable c hildren with additional needs to get the support they require. However, this scheme has its difficulties, particularly with from the multi-agency angle, as all the various services have a different perspective of the child and the problems each individual is facing. It can even be fair to say that each body has its own perspective on what childhood is, and these often dont match up. Even little things such as the style of observation each body undertakes on a child presents a problem, as often entirely different conclusions are drawn by each service. It is a positive though, that the government has recognized the need to unite different ways of perceiving children to create a more rounded, realistic analysis of children and their specific needs. Cambridge Dictionary (2009) Online Dictionary: Child [online] Available: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=13062dict=CALDtopic=family-relations-in-general , Cambridge [Accessed 12th December 2009] Cambridge Dictionary (2009) Online Dictionary: Childhood [online] Available: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=13075dict=CALDtopic=children-and-babies , Cambridge [Accessed 12th December 2009] Childrens Rights Alliance (2008) [online] Available: http://www.childrensrights.ie/files/UNCRC-CRC1989.pdf , Dublin [Accessed 21st December] DCSF (2009) Every Child Matters [online] Available: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/about/aims/aims/ Crown, London [Accessed 21st December] Gamage, P (1992) Standing Conference on Education and training of teachers In Mills, J and Mills, R (ed.) (2003) Childhood Studies: A Reader in perspectives of childhood London: RoutledgeFalmer, page 8. Jenks, C (1990) Perspectives of Childhood: Summery. In J. Mills and R. Mills (ed.) (2003) Childhood Studies: A Reader in perspectives of childhood London: RoutledgeFalmer, page 30 Kakar (1981).Starting points. In Nutbrown (ed.) (1996) In Childrens Rights and Early Education Paul Chapman Publishing Mills, R (2003) Perspectives of Childhood: Summery. In J. Mills and R. Mills (ed.) (2003) Childhood Studies: A Reader in perspectives of childhood London: RoutledgeFalmer, page 8. Mills, R (2003) Perspectives of Childhood: Summery. In J. Mills and R. Mills (ed.) (2003) Childhood Studies: A Reader in perspectives of childhood London: RoutledgeFalmer, page 9. Nutbrown, C (1996) Starting points. In Nutbrown, C (ed.) Childrens Rights and Early Education Paul Chapman Publishing NSPCC (2009) What is the definition of a child? [online] Available: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/research/questions/definition_of_a_child_wda59396.html , London [Accessed 12th December 2009] Aries, P (1960) In Palaiologou, I (2009) unpublished lecture notes from Constructions of Childhood 12th October Schultz, Lavenda (1990) In Palaiologou, I (2009) unpublished lecture notes from Constructions of Childhood 23rd November