The most talked-about topic these days is children and globalization. Globalization has come a long way and has had an effect on children's lives. A slew of the issues associated with globalization is worth addressing to better understand children's lives and express the problems they face in today's world. Children today are vastly different from those of the previous ten decades. The inequality is wide-ranging and affects all children worldwide (Crane, Kawashima, & Kawasaki, 2016). Given that our children prioritize most governments, the complexities of the century have turned the life of children due to variance in the world economy, social, political, technological edge, and the education spheres. All these forces are linked by the mother force termed as globalization (Freire, 2000). Globalization is the core force that has made the world look like a global village with congruence in the nature in which children carry out their day to day activities. It’s the power of globalization that has made children look alike in character, activities they do, and what they treasure most. Consequently, the affiliate forces or factors that come along with globalization have gotten the better part of the children’s lifestyle. These factors include science and technology, quest for children's rights and freedom, digital and computer integration in learning curricula, and modern parenting practices. Therefore, this essay is aimed at analyzing the connections between children and the era of globalization. This encompasses all the aspects of globalization as experienced by children globally which has either a positive or a negative effect on their growth (Crane et al., 2016).
Aspects of Children in the Era of Globalization
There are different aspects that dictate the life and growth of children worldwide today. These global forces are the central concern in shaping the children. These are discussed below.
Children and Globalization in Science and Technology
The world is a ‘global village’ as many call it, this has affected the nature of children we have today. Globalization has come along with the new technology that has affected the growth the lifestyle of children (Crane et al., 2016). The rise in technological edge and internet has made children spend most of their time online browsing in and connecting themselves to their colleagues in social media like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. The forces of online and social sites have made children behave like adults. Today children in America chat with friends in all other continents. Also, children learn a lot of things through the internet without involving adults. Despite the fact that globalization comes with advantages, however, internet has ruined the lives of many children. This is evident from the alarming cases of pornography registered by most children online. This has resulted into moral degradation and loss of study skills for those children who spend most of their time on nude sites. In addition to that, there has been new trend of children globally engaging in video games and violent videos. In regard to this, the children who are exposed to video games tend to spend much of their time in such games all day long hence loss concentration in the vital aspect of their growth in life (Ferguson & Olson, 2014). It is believed that the children who engage themselves in video games have restricted minds and poor mental acuity that makes them develop poor problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and proper judgment, in this regard, video games are better than destroyers in the life of the children who use. The more the youths use it, the more addicted they become in using it. It has affected their concentration in academics and made them develop violent characters that good children do not identify with (Crane et al., 2016). However, the children who use technology appreciably are at the edge of positive growth. For instance, they use technology to perfect their understanding of manipulative, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. Despite the severe effects of video games, the quest and power of curiosity are the principal focus of the video games. The videos show how children are always curious to handle, learn, adventure, and associate with video games like the forests video games (Ferguson & Olson, 2014). The forests have a lot of playful things like fruits, trees, harmless animals, such video games are adventurous. This expands the scientific and practical skills of children in handling technology.
Child Labour and Children's Rights
Child labour is one of the global phenomena that affected children in a number of countries in the world. Globalization has come along with increased revolution and industrialization that has affected children both positively and negatively (Freire, 2000). The negative effects have increased child labour which is common in West Africa countries. The majority of children work on coffee plantations for the rest of their lives instead of attending school. Other countries include Yemen, Pakistan, Sudan, and Afghanistan. Also, in some countries, children are forced to join the army or the national security groups so as to provide military services to the nations. This is the misery that globalization has brought to the majority of children out there (Freire, 2000). In contrast, globalization has equally helped reduce the incidences of child labour, forced marriages, Female Genital Mutilation, and forceful military training. The revolution on the global basis pertaining to the rights of children is taking roots in all parts of the world (Crane et al., 2016). This has relieved the children from mistreatment and hard labour across the globe. A number of organizations have cropped up and taken the issues of children with a lot of gravity. The organizations are concerned about the growth of children and the challenges they go through in their life as children. The focus is on guarding and protecting the rights of children. These have seen children through a peaceful life and growth in their education. The insights came a couple of years ago due to globalization. Today in most countries, cases of child labour, early marriages, and military children have been slowly curbed by children's rights and organizations.
Improved and Diversified Education
Today, due to globalization, children have access to education materials and resources easily. This is through e-books, internet learning sites, and online tutorials which have gone to an extent of improved homeschooling. Homeschooling has been enhanced by online tutorials and internet resources. Also, the majority of children are able to learn in an exposed environment in any part of the world (Freire, 2000). This has been attributed to the globalization of the education curricula and institutions to eliminate any restriction in the provision of education. Consequently, one is able to learn in any part of the world without much difficulty. In addition to that, the interaction between children has been enhanced by the globalization of the education sector (Wintersberger, 2005). Children can learn different languages and cultures that aid them in fitting well in the modern and dynamic society. Therefore, the children have access to diversified education materials and systems across the globe. The self-reliance and the competence were built in children since they learned not to depend on their parents (adults) for support. Consequently, children form their own culture and space in the era of globalization (Kjørholt, 2007). This has made learning become a global event that is significant in the growth of children.
Conclusion Children have been affected both positively and negatively by the forces of globalization. The major nugget is the power of technology which has exposed children to adult materials that have polluted their minds and moral behavior. The majority of children are drowning in the maze of abuse of drugs and substances which have been trading online. Some of the filthy acts are today learned online without anyone telling them or introducing the children to them. This has affected the growth of children in the dynamic society. However, the positive sides of globalization outweigh the negative effects. Therefore, it’s worth noting that proper parenting is the key aspect that helps the children battle well with the forces of globalization. Children have to be properly mentored since they are amid plenty of distractors in their life that come along with globalization. Since the society is polarized, the growth of children is dependent on such factors.
References
Crane, D., Kawashima, N., & Kawasaki, K. I. (Eds.). (2016). Global culture: Media, arts, policy, and globalization. Abingdon: Routledge.
Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Ferguson, C. J., & Olson, C. K. (2014). Video game violence use among “vulnerable” populations: The impact of violent games on delinquency and bullying among children with clinically elevated depression or attention deficit symptoms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(1), 127-136.
Kjørholt, A. T. (2007). Childhood as a symbolic space: Searching for authentic voices in the era of globalisation. Children’s Geographies, 5(1-2), 29-42.
Wintersberger, H. (2005). Work, welfare and generational order: Towards a political economy of childhood. In Studies in modern childhood (pp. 201-220). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK.
