The ordinary family in colonial North America
was primarily concerned with sheer physical
survival and beyond that, its own economic
prosperity. Thus, Children were valued in
the terms of their productivity, and they (1) ______
assumed the role of producer quite early.
Until they fulfilled this role, his position (2) ______
in the structure of the family was one of
subordination, and their psychological needs
and capacities received much consideration. (3) ______
As the society became more complex, the
status or children in the family and in the
society become more obvious, each member
must fulfill a number of personal and (4) ______
occupational role and be in constant contact (5) ______
with a great many other members. Consequently,
viewing children potentially acceptable and (6) ______
necessarily multifaceted members of society
means that they are regarded more as people
in their own right so as utilitarian organisms. (7) ______
This acceptance of children as equal participants
in the contemporary family is reflected in
the variety of statutes protecting the rights
of children and in the social and public
welfare programs devoted exclusively in (8) ______
their well-being.
This new view of children and the increasing
contact between the members of society has also
resulted in a surge of interest in child-rearing
technique. People today spend a considerable
portion of their time discussing the proper
way to bring about children. It is now possible (9) ______
to influence the details of the socialization
of another person’s child in spreading the (10)______
gospel of current and fashionable theories
and methods of child rearing.