Phillip Adams article: Homework week 1

Phillip Adams constructs childhood as being a time of restriction and confinement, in which every part of a child’s life is controlled by authority figures, specifically parents. In Adams own words, he describes childhood as a “totalitarian regime from which [he] was very glad to escape,” this statement is very extreme and really shows how dreadful he thinks childhood actually is. He believes that the boundaries that parents set for their children, are unreasonable and hinder the development of the child. This very extreme controversial opinion, in which childhood is not seen as a golden time, goes against what most people choose to represent childhood like. Throughout the whole article Adams continually draws comparisons between extreme fascist regimes such as that in Russia, and the control held over children by all authority figures. The only escape that Adams can see is the eventual transition into adulthood.