Children’s Folklore Recent Titles in Greenwood Folklore Handbooks Myth: a handbook

Two
De
fi
nitions and 
Classi
fi
cations
CHILDHOOD
Since the publication of Philippe Ariès’s 
Centuries of Childhood
in 1962, scholars 
have debated the relationship between childhood and culture. Ariès’s influential 
study traces concepts of childhood from ancient times to the twentieth century 
through close examination of works of art. Noting that medieval art up to the 
twelfth century “did not know childhood or did not attempt to portray it,” Ariès 
identifies the seventeenth century as the time when portraits of children without 
adults became common (33, 46). These representations, he argues, show that a 
distinctive culture of childhood began in the seventeenth century. Objections to 
Ariès’s approach have included June Factor’s assertion that childhood is not an 
“adult-created social category”; misreading historical evidence and overlooking 
children’s traditions has caused people to view childhood as a creation of adults. 
This viewpoint, Factor suggests, constitutes one of the myths about children’s 
folklore that we need to dispel (“Three Myths” 31–33).
Concepts of childhood vary from one culture to another. American educa-
tors define as “schoolchildren” all young people from kindergarten through 12th 
grade, although they recognize children’s ascending levels of maturity as they 
move through middle school and high school. In some cultures and religions, 
ceremonies followed by celebrations mark children’s progress from childhood to 
maturity. Jewish boys’ bar mitzvahs at age 13 and girls’ bat mitzvahs at age 12, 
Hispanic girls’ 
quinceañeras
at age 15, American girls’ “sweet 16” birthday parties, 
and North and West African boys’ circumcision and girls’ excision ceremonies at 
the onset of puberty are among the best-known passages of this kind.

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20 Children’s 
Folklore
Folklorists view adolescence, which begins at puberty, as an age stage that 
differs significantly from earlier childhood. Sue Samuelson makes a compelling 
case for the recognition of adolescence as a time when young people form strong 
relationships with peer-group members, apart from the domain of family life; 
these connections result in certain kinds of folklore. During the years preceding 
adolescence, often called preadolescence, children actively participate in peer-
group activities and test boundaries established by adults.