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Children and childhood is often associated with the notion of innocence. The idea of childhood innocence is portrayed in many different sources
defining the innocence of childhood will have different meanings depending on what people believed conceptualizes it
Children are naturally innocent
Children are blank states
Children are agents of redemption
Childhood is the basis of adult identity
Children exist in a separate state
Children have no place in consumerism
Sheltered innocence is the notion described by cultural historian Garry Cross (2004)
Sheltered innocence in the 21st century, could now be described as adults trying to protect children from negative influences and avoid danger
Alison Pugh (2009) maintains that consumer control can be influenced by parents wanting to protect their children from negative influences in their society
Children can protect themselves from danger with knowledge (often called “street wise”).
Joanne Faulkner (p.g.12) argues that a child’s innocence will be based on the capacity for it to be protected.
Harry Ferguson (2007) claims that some children have their childhood innocence “contaminated”
Images of childhood can be used to show how the idea of childhood innocence has changed over history
pictures are so sacred they can also cause controversy as they are widely available, difficult to control and interpret
Children’s bodies were visually used as the first sign of innocence which could be noted because they are free from sexuality and their minds were blank slates
Golden Age of Illustration was created in the form of photographs, which became increasingly popular and relatively cheap and easy for lots of people to use
photos have also contributed to the current crisis of childhood innocence
Freud and Foucault have both been very influential on understanding how childhood sexuality is understood
Freud believed that children were born with sexual desires and attraction to the opposite sex.
The sexualisation debate is created when young girls who were seen as innocent become aware of their sexuality and thus boundaries between flirting and charming become blurred
