Connect and Check
Core concept Age patriarchy describes structured adult power over children’s lives, decisions, movement and resources.
- Adult control can be protective, disciplinary, unequal or negotiated.
- Learners distinguish dependence from powerlessness and apply children’s agency carefully.
Study builder
Gittins
Children occupy a subordinate position within adult-controlled family structures.
Firestone
Radical critique of adult power sees childhood as a site of dependence and control.
Mayall
Children can be understood as social actors, not only adults-in-the-making.
Choose your route
Access
Access: classify decisions as care, control or mixed.
Check: have you used one key concept accurately?
Core
Core: explain age patriarchy using two mechanisms.
Check: have you explained the mechanism rather than just naming it?
Stretch
Stretch: evaluate when adult authority is protective and when it becomes unequal power.
Check: have you qualified your judgement by evidence or social group?
Exam practice
Analyse two ways adults may exercise power over children. [10 marks]