童年是從出生跨越到青春期的年齡時間段。童年也可能包括青少年，但無論如何都是在成年之前。童年一般由兩個階段組成：前運算階段（preoperational stage）和具體運算階段（concrete operational stage）。在發展心理學中，童年被分為四個發展階段，即嬰兒期（學步期），兒童早期（玩耍期），兒童晚期（學齡期），以及青春期（青春期至後青春期）。各種各樣的童年因素會影響一個人人生態度的形成。

童年是一個讓孩子學習、玩耍的時間段，是一個讓孩子在家庭的愛和鼓勵、及許多成人關心下變得堅強與自信的時間段。這個年齡的孩子，生活沒有恐懼，遠離暴力、虐待和剝削。正因如此，童年絕非僅是出生與成為成人期間的間隔。它指的是兒童的生活狀態和條件，及這些年的生活品質。



童年的年齡跨度

童年的具體時間並不明確，它可以指人類發展中的一段長時間。以發育和生物學而言，它指的是嬰兒期與成年期之間的時期。一般而言，童年從出生開始。也有人認為，童年是玩耍和純真的代名詞。許多國家的法律中規定了著法定成人年齡，即一個人的童年正式結束，而在法律上成為成人的年齡。這一年齡各國有所不同，一般在 15 到 20 歲之間，其中以 18 歲最為普遍。



童年的發育階段

兒童早期



腳註



擴展閱讀


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* Calvert, Karin. _Children in the House: The Material Culture of Early Childhood, 1600-1900_. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1992.

* Cleverley, John and D.C. Phillips. _Visions of Childhood: Influential Models from Locke to Spock_. New York: Teachers College, 1986.

* Cannella, Gaile and Joe L. Kincheloe. "Kidworld: Childhood Studies, Global Perspectives, and Education". New York: Peter Lang, 2002.

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* Cunnington, Phillis and Anne Buck. _Children’s Costume in England: 1300 to 1900_. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1965.

* deMause, Lloyde, ed. _The History of Childhood_. London: Souvenir Press, 1976.

* Higonnet, Anne. _Pictures of Innocence: The History and Crisis of Ideal Childhood_. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1998.

* Immel, Andrea and Michael Witmore, eds. _Childhood and Children’s Books in Early Modern Europe, 1550-1800_. New York: Routledge, 2006.

* Kincaid, James R. _Child-Loving: The Erotic Child and Victorian Culture_. New York: Routledge, 1992.

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* O』Malley, Andrew. _The Making of the Modern Child: Children’s Literature and Childhood in the Late Eighteenth Century_. London: Routledge, 2003.

* Pinchbeck, Ivy and Margaret Hewitt. _Children in English Society_. 2 vols. London: Routledge, 1969.

* Pollock, Linda A. _Forgotten Children: Parent-child relations from 1500 to 1900_. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

* Postman, Neil. _The Disappearance of Childhood_. New York: Vintage, 1994.

* Schultz, James. _The Knowledge of Childhood in the German Middle Ages._

* Shorter, Edward. _The Making of the Modern Family_.

* Sommerville, C. John. _The Discovery of Childhood in Puritan England_. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992.

* Steinberg, Shirley R. and Joe L. Kincheloe. _Kinderculture: The Corporate Construction of Childhood_. Westview Press Inc., 2004. ISBN 081339157.

* Stone, Lawrence. _The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800_. New York: Harper and Row, 1979.

* Zornado, Joseph L. _Inventing the Child: Culture, Ideology, and the Story of Childhood_. New York: Garland, 2001.



外部連結


* 
* Childhood，In Our Time (BBC Radio 4) 的《In Our Time》節目。(現在聆聽)

* 世界兒童基金會 （頁面存檔備份，存於網際網路檔案館）（英文）

* Meeting Early Childhood Needs（英文）

新條目《童年》高爾基