Childhood and Stereotypes

I thought it was interesting that Sternheimer brought up the idea that childhood and children mean different things to all of us. As a society, we cannot even agree on an age at which childhood begins and ends. Furthermore, everyone experiences childhood differently depending on your social status, living environment, ethnicity, and immigration status. I agree that it is hard to tell wether media is “destroying” childhood, but I also agree that childhood changes from generation to generation. There is more information out there now from when I was younger.

From the stereotypes article, what I found interesting was how students need to learn the difference between generalizations and stereotypes. However, how can someone have a generalized idea about a specific group of people without it being stereotypical? Another thing I found interesting is that we cannot avoid using labels and “without them we wouldn’t be able to communicate about social issues, international relations, or historical events.”

“To prepare rather than protect empowers children to make their own decisions, armed with necessary information.”
How does everyone feel about his idea?