Roles and Responsibilities of children around the globe.

This piece is dedicated to my so very sweet and loving year 9 sociology teacher, Ms. Sajini Saira.

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During my summer holiday, walking down the street back home from my math class, seeing something made me have the biggest moment of realization. I was 10 and I saw kids my age walking in a group. I looked up, smiling to see if there was any potential friend there. It was a futile exercise as playing was probably the last thing on their mind. They were coming back after doing a day's work in bungalows across my grandparent's house. They were not playing- they were working. All the children, around my age- were out to earn a livelihood for their family's survival. Looking back 3 years later I realize how culture, economic conditions, and society affect children's roles.

A world away- developed and dutiful

Coming back to Dubai, my home, I was upset when mum asked me to do chores like walk our very exasperating dogs and water our so ever-endless garden of plants. Somehow, thanks to my amazing abilities, the number of plants reduced, and so did my work. My annoyance, however, at being asked to do simple tasks made me comprehend how vastly different kids live across the world.

Thinking about just my daily chores made me sigh out loud. Slowly, as I started observing, I noticed how other kids have double and triple the amount of my tasks. A friend of mine effortlessly takes on her responsibility as her values from growing up in an Asian background allow her to effortlessly care for her family. She cares for 2 of her younger siblings, a cat, and household chores as a part of her daily routine. She is also one of the smartest in our class, popular, and still manages to squeeze in her tasks with ease.

Similarly, another one of my friends, growing up in an Arab household is responsible for not only herself and her family but her younger cousins who bite and mishandle her belongings. She has to babysit the little biting monsters during family gatherings. She too manages to balance her school work, sports, social life, and chores brilliantly and laughs off the trouble she goes through.

In the world of the Super-rich

In middle school, I moved to another school. Here the economic status of my friends allowed their families to have nannies for their younger siblings, Household help for dogs, and cats, and to my jealousy, gardeners to help water their plants, a chore I absolutely hated! The responsibilities of this group of friends are completely different.

Perspective of sociology

When I started studying sociology, I realized that how children's roles and responsibilities were reflecting the various differences between cultures in many different ways, depending on gender, age, norms, and values, much like those of adults.

For instance, some cultures hold greater expectations of obedience to adults than others. To some extent, the idea of childhood and the role of the child as a learner may exist in many cultures but the roles played by children vary greatly. In the developed world children are usually dependents whilst in the developing world, children can be the main breadwinner as I had first observed, or even combatants in a war, which is sadly the case in areas like West Africa, Iran, Afghanistan, and many more conflict-ridden geographical locations.

Men and boys are definitely luckier in the third world

It is also interesting to see how roles may differ according to religion and tradition e.g. rites of passage may see children achieve different roles at different times. I have told girls my age are housebound and family caregivers in many regions and rural societies including in my country India.

Biological differences between children and adults may also contribute to roles differing between cultures. However, some roles are universal, for example being a son or a daughter. Girls and women are generally expected to dress in typically feminine ways, be polite, helpful and be the person who cooks. And most of them with younger siblings may have to take the role of carer. Boys are expected to be strong and bold and undertake physically strenuous tasks.

Economics come into play

These stereotypes differ between societies and ethnic groups. For example, Men go to work and are considered the breadwinners while women are at home responsible for the domestic chores. Here the exception is when daughters need to step out in urban areas to work and support their families in lower economically developed regions.

Sadly, though childhood is a distinct phase of life and everyone has the right to go through a period of education, it is not the reality across many regions of the world. According to UNESCO, 129 million girls are out of school, including 32 million of primary school age, and 97 million of secondary school age. School completion rates for girls are lower by 4 percent in low-income countries with 63% of female primary school students completing primary education, in comparison to 67% of their male counterparts.

Visiting the moment in India again, made me register how people in my community and I take our roles for granted, knowing that what we have, is what other kids around the globe wish and dream for. It also makes me understand, that I have a responsibility not just to my family but to those in corners of the globe that are not as fortunate as I am.

Citations:

UNICEF Global Development Commons. 2022. Girls' Education. [online] Available at: <https://gdc.unicef.org/resource/girls-education> [Accessed 29 August 2022].

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