Fear of children
Encyclopedia
Fear of children, fear of infant
s or fear of childhood
is alternatively called pedophobia, paedophobia (British English) or pediaphobia. Other age-focused fears are ephebiphobia
and gerontophobia
. Recognized outcomes of pedophobia include paternalism
, adultism
, and by extension, ageism
.
movements addressing young people, including children's rights
and youth participation
. Major international organizations addressing pedophobia, either outright or by implication, include Save the Children
and Children's Defense Fund
. However, some organizations, particularly those associated with the youth rights
movement, claim that these movements actually perpetuate pedophobia.
The complicity of this notion is exacerbated by observations by experts such as Letty Cottin-Pogrebin, a founding editor of Ms. magazine
, who is said to have diagnosed America as having an "epidemic of pedophobia", saying that, "[t]hough most of us make exceptions for our own offspring, we do not seem particularly warm-hearted towards other peoples' children."
specifically extends from adults'
distinct awareness of the capacity of children as she wrote, "Children embarrass us because they point ever too cleverly and clearly to our denial of personal, material, and maternal history." A separate report suggests that the source of current trends in the fear of children have a specific source, namely,
, and social justice
organizations have been tackling the fear of children for dozens of years. The United Nations has created the Convention on the Rights of the Child
, which is implicitly designed to address pedophobia by fostering intergenerational equity
between children and adults.
As evidenced above, pedophobia is distinctly addressed by academic, especially evidenced since the creation of the field of Youth studies
. Exploring R. Kelly
's ephebophilia
and the victimization of females in the African American community, Michael Eric Dyson, a recognized scholar in the areas of religion
and humanities
, addresses pedophobia head-on, suggesting that the way to change the popular fear of children is to "[p]ay attention to a culture of subtle pedophobia that ignores the devastating impact on children's lives of the practices we have learned to take for granted in our communities."
The influence of the fear of children in American popular culture is examined by critical media analysts who have identified the effects of pedophobia in both Disney and horror films.
A wide range of other authors and scholars, including Henry Giroux
, Mike Males and Barbara Kingsolver
, have suggested that the popular modern fear of children actually stems from corporatization
of mass media
and its complicity with a range of political and economic interests. Males perhaps goes the furthest, actually writing an entire book exploring the subject
Infant
A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
s or fear of childhood
Childhood
Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood , middle childhood , and adolescence .- Age ranges of childhood :The term childhood is non-specific and can imply a...
is alternatively called pedophobia, paedophobia (British English) or pediaphobia. Other age-focused fears are ephebiphobia
Ephebiphobia
The fear of youth is called ephebiphobia. First coined as the "fear and loathing of teenagers," today the phenomenon is recognized as the "inaccurate, exaggerated and sensational characterization of young people" in a range of settings around the world...
and gerontophobia
Gerontophobia
Gerontophobia is the fear of growing old, or a hatred or fear of the elderly.-Indicators:Ken Dychtwald identifies seven markers that can make up this phobia in chapter two of Age Wave: How the Most Important Trend of Our Time Will Change Your Future:...
. Recognized outcomes of pedophobia include paternalism
Paternalism
Paternalism refers to attitudes or states of affairs that exemplify a traditional relationship between father and child. Two conditions of paternalism are usually identified: interference with liberty and a beneficent intention towards those whose liberty is interfered with...
, adultism
Adultism
Adultism has been defined as "the power adults have over children". More narrowly, 'adultism is prejudice and accompanying systematic discrimination against young people'...
, and by extension, ageism
Ageism
Ageism, also called age discrimination is stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups because of their age. It is a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify age based prejudice, discrimination, and subordination...
.
Etymology
It comes from the Greek words paidi (gr:παιδί) which means child and -phobia (gr:φοβία)Scientific analysis
The fear of children has been diagnosed and treated by psychiatrists, with studies examining the effects of multiple forms of treatment. Sociologists have situated "contemporary fears about children and childhood", e.g. pedophobia, as "contributing to the ongoing social construction of childhood", suggesting that "generational power relations, in which children’s lives are bounded by adult surveillance" affect many aspects of society. More than one study has identified the fear of children as a factor affecting biological conception in humans.Popular perception
Pedophobia is the raison d'etre for several international social justiceSocial justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
movements addressing young people, including children's rights
Children's rights
Children's rights are the human rights of children with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to the young, including their right to association with both biological parents, human identity as well as the basic needs for food, universal state-paid education,...
and youth participation
Youth participation
Youth participation is the active engagement of young people throughout their communities. It is often used as a short-hand for youth participation in any many forms, including decision-making, sports, schools and any activity where young people are not historically engaged.-Coinage:Youth...
. Major international organizations addressing pedophobia, either outright or by implication, include Save the Children
Save the Children
Save the Children is an internationally active non-governmental organization that enforces children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries...
and Children's Defense Fund
Children's Defense Fund
The Children's Defense Fund is an American child advocacy and research group, founded in 1973 by Marian Wright Edelman. Its motto Leave No Child Behind reflects its mission to advocate on behalf of children...
. However, some organizations, particularly those associated with the youth rights
Youth rights
Youth rights refers to a set of philosophies intended to enhance civil rights for young people. They are a response to the oppression of young people, with advocates challenging ephebiphobia, adultism and ageism through youth participation, youth/adult partnerships, and promoting, ultimately,...
movement, claim that these movements actually perpetuate pedophobia.
The complicity of this notion is exacerbated by observations by experts such as Letty Cottin-Pogrebin, a founding editor of Ms. magazine
Ms. magazine
Ms. is an American feminist magazine co-founded by American feminist and activist Gloria Steinem and founding editor Letty Cottin Pogrebin together with founding editors Patricia Carbine, Joanne Edgar, Nina Finkelstein, and Mary Peacock, that first appeared in 1971 as an insert in New York magazine...
, who is said to have diagnosed America as having an "epidemic of pedophobia", saying that, "[t]hough most of us make exceptions for our own offspring, we do not seem particularly warm-hearted towards other peoples' children."
Causes
One author suggests that the cause of the fear of children in academiaAcademia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
specifically extends from adults'
Adult
An adult is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age....
distinct awareness of the capacity of children as she wrote, "Children embarrass us because they point ever too cleverly and clearly to our denial of personal, material, and maternal history." A separate report suggests that the source of current trends in the fear of children have a specific source, namely,
- James Q. WilsonJames Q. WilsonJames Q. Wilson is an American academic political scientist and an authority on public administration. He is a professor and senior fellow at the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College....
, a professor at UCLA‘s School of Management... back in 1975... helped inaugurate the current climate of pedophobia [when he said] 'a critical massCritical mass (sociodynamics)Critical mass is a sociodynamic term to describe the existence of sufficient momentum in a social system such that the momentum becomes self-sustaining and creates further growth....
of younger persons... creates an explosive increase in the amount of crime.'
Addressing the issue
As mentioned above, social service, human rightsHuman rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, and social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
organizations have been tackling the fear of children for dozens of years. The United Nations has created the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention on the Rights of the Child
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children...
, which is implicitly designed to address pedophobia by fostering intergenerational equity
Intergenerational equity
Intergenerational equity in economic, psychological, and sociological contexts, is the concept or idea of fairness or justice in relationships between children, youth, adults and seniors, particularly in terms of treatment and interactions. It has been studied in environmental and sociological...
between children and adults.
As evidenced above, pedophobia is distinctly addressed by academic, especially evidenced since the creation of the field of Youth studies
Youth studies
Youth studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the development, history, culture, psychology, and politics of youth. The field studies not only specific cultures of young people, but also their relationships, roles and responsibilities throughout the larger societies...
. Exploring R. Kelly
R. Kelly
Robert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play...
's ephebophilia
Ephebophilia
Ephebophilia is the sexual preference of adults for mid-to-late adolescents, generally ages 15 to 19. The term was originally used in the late 19th to mid 20th century, and has been more recently revisited by Ray Blanchard. It is one of a number of sexual preferences across age groups subsumed...
and the victimization of females in the African American community, Michael Eric Dyson, a recognized scholar in the areas of religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
and humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
, addresses pedophobia head-on, suggesting that the way to change the popular fear of children is to "[p]ay attention to a culture of subtle pedophobia that ignores the devastating impact on children's lives of the practices we have learned to take for granted in our communities."
The influence of the fear of children in American popular culture is examined by critical media analysts who have identified the effects of pedophobia in both Disney and horror films.
A wide range of other authors and scholars, including Henry Giroux
Henry Giroux
Henry Giroux, born September 18, 1943, in Providence, Rhode Island, is an American cultural critic. One of the founding theorists of critical pedagogy in the United States, he is best known for his pioneering work in public pedagogy, cultural studies, youth studies, higher education, media studies,...
, Mike Males and Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the former Republic of Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the University of Arizona and worked as a freelance writer before...
, have suggested that the popular modern fear of children actually stems from corporatization
Corporatization
Corporatization refers to the transformation of state assets or agencies into state-owned corporations in order to introduce corporate management techniques to their administration...
of mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
and its complicity with a range of political and economic interests. Males perhaps goes the furthest, actually writing an entire book exploring the subject
See also
- Fear of childbirthFear of childbirthTokophobia, or fear of childbirth or pregnancy, is a form of specific phobia. Other terms for the condition include tocophobia and parturiphobia.-Psychological disorder:...
- Fear of seniorsGerontophobiaGerontophobia is the fear of growing old, or a hatred or fear of the elderly.-Indicators:Ken Dychtwald identifies seven markers that can make up this phobia in chapter two of Age Wave: How the Most Important Trend of Our Time Will Change Your Future:...
- Fear of youthEphebiphobiaThe fear of youth is called ephebiphobia. First coined as the "fear and loathing of teenagers," today the phenomenon is recognized as the "inaccurate, exaggerated and sensational characterization of young people" in a range of settings around the world...
- List of phobias
Related reading
- Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys by Daniel J. Kindlon, Michael Thompson, et al.
- Prout, R. (2001) Fear and Gendering: Pedophobia, Effeminophobia, and Hyermasculine Desire in the Work of Juan Goytisolo, Worlds of Change, 42.
- Scharf, R. (2001) "Pedophobia, the gynarchy, and the androcracyAndrocracyAndrocracy or andrarchy is a form of government in which the government rulers are male. This term derives from the Greek root words andros, or "man", and krateo , or "to rule".-Example:...
," Journal of Psychohistory 28(3) (Winter 2001) p. 281-302.