A Comparison of the Concept of Childhood in Uganda and England
Jemma Armitage, Daniella Tona and Norelle Kolano
In Uganda, it is evident there is a North and South divide; with the South being more prosperous than the North (warchild.org.uk, 2014). It is our intention to look at how childhood is perceived in the North, mainly focusing on the idea of child soldiers.
In Northern Uganda, due to a severe lack of money and resources, many children live on the streets or in very rundown houses (Alexander, 2013). As a result of this, a rebel group known as the Lord Resistance Army are well-known for abducting children of both genders. After their abduction, the males are forced to become part of the army; “child soldiers”; and the females are forced to become sex slaves (Coleman, 2013). This tends to confirm the view that childhood in Northern Uganda can be a scary and unpredictable time.
In contrast to this, childhood in England is, more often than not, perceived to be ‘protected’ and better funded as the government have more money. According to a large-scale pilot study carried out by The Children’s Society (2014), ‘children in England ranked ninth in well-being out of a sample of 11 countries… ahead of South Korea and Uganda’. It could therefore be proposed that children in England believe they have good well-being but it is important to remember that the study merely represents a child’s perception. Also in England, the government believe that children are vulnerable under the power of adults and society (Moran-Ellis, 2010). This contributes to the fact that a variety of political legislations have been put into place in order to ensure that a child is supported and looked-after regardless of their circumstances (UNCRC, 1990).
In our analysis, whilst Uganda has also signed the UNCRC, there are charities; such as: Save the Children and UNICEF; which are carrying out projects in order to remove these children from a life of poverty and into a life of education (Save the Children, 2011). To conclude, the evidence suggests that Uganda and England have parallel concepts of childhood due to the varying economic, cultural and political factors surrounding the two countries.
References
Alexander, L. (2013) A dark truth about childhood in Uganda. Available at: http://www.essentialkids.com.au/older-kids/development-for-older-kids/a-dark-truth-about-childhood-in-uganda-20130520-2jvj8.html [Accessed on 22 October 2014].
Coleman, D. (2013) 'Political Conditions', Uganda Country Review, pp. 8-29, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost,
Moran-Ellis, J. (2010) Reflections on the sociology of childhood in the United Kingdom. Current Sociology. pp.189-191.
Save the Children (2011) A Ugandan childhood: through the eyes of children and parents. Available at: http://resourcecentre.savethechildren.se/library/ugandan-childhood-through-eyes-children-and-parents. [Accessed on 23 October 2014].
The Children’s Society (2014) The Good Child Report: Executive Summary. p.5. Available at: http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/the_good_childhood_report_2014_summary_final.pdf. [Accessed on 23 October 2014].
UNCRC (1990) The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. London: UNICEF. pp. 3-14.
Warchild.org.uk, (2014). Uganda | War Child - The charity for children affected by war. [online] Available at: http://www.warchild.org.uk/what-we-do/uganda. [Accessed 22 October 2014].