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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child integration | 3/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_integration | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T15:31:40.433136+00:00 | kb-cron |
In some immigrant communities, children link their family and friends to the environment around them by translating and paraphrasing words, phrases or occurring situations. This practice is known as language brokering and is used by children in immigrant communities to integrate themselves into family endeavors and into civil society. The child's contribution by language brokering integrates them into many environments, such as the doctor's office, at parent-teachers' conferences, banks, housing offices, and various sorts of negotiation activities. Subsequently, children who engage in language brokering are more likely to also be representatives of their community when transitioning into adulthood. Child integration has become very important to form linkages between new immigrant communities and the predominant culture and new forms of bureaucratic systems. With the increased interaction in larger societies children in Indigenous Mayan communities who are bilingual help monolingual parents as interpreters. For example, the children will translate for parents when selling products in the barrios of Cancun, where the primary language is Spanish.
=== Productive endeavors === In some indigenous communities, children are often integrated as active participants into family and community work. Child work is often a vital contribution towards community productivity and typically involves non-exploitative motivations for children's engagement in work activities. In some families, young children contribute to the family's finances by taking a job in a factory or a store under the supervision of a formal adult figure, while some join the family business under the oversight of their parents and older siblings. When children join the family business they tend to gain knowledge of a trade such as accounting, public relations and how to be able to time manage. Some children not only obtain an economic boost for the family as a whole, but also learn autonomy and altruism with regards to having their own earned income to support the family and also to spend for themselves.
== Children's motivation as integrated contributors == Children in Indigenous American communities pitch in to community endeavors because they experience their contribution having a tangible effect on their community. The children often contribute without being told and children get to learn how to do the activity as they contribute. However, children aren't just born with this way of learning by observation; they have been given the opportunity by being encouraged to attend, observing, and participating in mature activities. In indigenous communities, children's and adult's interests in participation must be viewed as equal, not just the adults forcing their views onto the children. Children are seen as a part of community just as much as adults. In many cultures, children are expected to take on tasks that are important to community. Children are also seen as integral members of the community, rather than separate from adults. Some cultures even give children control over specific goods, such as livestock or arable land and the expectations that come with this may also be seen as forms of participation. These ideas of children actively participating in their communities and influencing the society opens up opportunities for the participation of children
== History of age segregation in the West == Segregating children by age was not always the norm in the United States. A century and a half ago, children in the US had access to a wide range of adult activities and were integrated into multiple aspects of family functioning and survival. The change from this integration into segregation was a product of industrialization, Western formal schooling, child labor laws, social services agencies, and the rise of disciplines such as Psychology and Education. A combination of the above caused a shift from family working as a unit to separation of economic activities and services such as childcare emerged.
== References ==