While definitions of childhood vary across cultural contexts and disciplines, generally childhood can be understood as the period in a human's life spanning from birth to adulthood. Adulthood, however, is assumed to begin at varying ages throughout the world, between the ages of 13 and 21. The ways in which childhood is understood and conceptualized, however, varies. In many parts of the world, children and childhood are viewed as socially passive and are not provided with the same capacity as adults and adulthood. In these contexts, children are seen as requiring the protection of both families and the state. Yet, in many other parts of the world, there remains a much less clear distinction between childhood and adulthood, and children often become self-sufficient at a ...

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