Using 'it' to a child?

Question

Within the most developed countries, the average child goes to school for twelve years before really entering society. It learns geography, history and similar subjects. It is thus heavily socialized in a particular world view.

I thought it cannot be used to a person.

But why in this sentence is 'it' used to a child?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

AppleFanboyBut why in this sentence is 'it' used to a child?

It is customary to use the singular impersonal pronoun "it" to refer to a child whose gender is not specified or known.

Philip · Answer

I wouldn't use 'it' to refer to a child. Some writers use 'he', while others use 'he/she' (which gets awkward if there are several references in the composition). More and more people are accepting 'they' as the solution. If this becomes a problem for me, I usually try to start differently, making the antecedent plural. In your case, I would start with ~~average child goes~~ 'children normally go...'. Then, I can use the plural 'they' easily and correctly.

AppleFanboy · Answer

If I don't know whether you are a man or a woman, isn't calling him 'it' considered rude?

It said that it had a different view on the question.

It sounds rude to me.. Should I just use 'he or she'?

And also is using only 'he' okay when there is a possibility that the person who I am talking to is a woman?

He or she said he or she had a different opinion on the subject..?

Philip · Answer

AppleFanboy:  I think you can take the advice of either of the above responses.  If you feel awkward using 'it', which is generally acceptable, choose what you feel comfortable with.

GPY · Answer

Babies of unknown *** are sometimes termed "it". Extending this to older children seems slightly "inhuman" to me, though it is not unknown in my experience.

Anonymous · Answer

PhilipMore and more people are accepting 'they' as the solution.

That's the best and only logical way, to do it.

MrGuedes · Answer

AppleFanboyIf I don't know whether you are a man or a woman, isn't calling him 'it' considered rude?It said that it had a different view on the question.It sounds rude to me.. Should I just use 'he or she'?And also is using only 'he' okay when there is a possibility that the person who I am talking to is a woman?He or she said he or she had a different opinion on the subject..?

There are essentially four possibilities, all of which have downsides:

He — The most traditional approach, because of several reasons that are not important to mention here. Nowadays, this is falling more and more out of usage, mostly due to the great increase in campaigns for women's rights and the greater acceptance of women into society; many women might consider it disrespectful and dehumanising towards them. (FUN FACT: Even the official text of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been criticised by some extreme feminists due to its constant use of masculine pronouns where an option that would also include women would be expected.)

He/she (or he or she) — The most technically correct option, because it explicitly mentions both genders. The disadvantage is that it takes too long to say, and, in a sentence or set of sentences where that pronoun must appear very often, it sort of makes the text unappealing due to repetitiveness (in no other instance in English would you need a three-syllable pronoun!).

It — The neuter pronoun that serves for both genders and that might actually be the most appropriate. The disadvantage is that it is generally used for any living creatures other than humans, and also just things, facts, or even just nothing really (e.g., ‘It is raining.’); therefore, since it is generally never used for humans, using it is such an instance might be considered extremely dehumanising. (FUN FACT: Even spiritual creatures, such as ***, Satan, angels or demons are always treated as he; and they are not real humans, which contributes to the dehumanisation that using it would cause.) Nevertheless, for whatever reason, this pronoun is still commonly used for children, in spite of its hidden dehumanising message conveyed.

They — The most common solution nowadays. This is the so-called ‘singular they’. I'm not sure how it appeared, but it is fast catching up. The disadvantage, of course, is that it may sound relatively weird because we are used to hearing they as being plural, not singular; in certain contexts, this usage might even be misleading (where, for example, neither the gender nor the number of the people referred to is mentioned).

You can find more information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_and_gender-neutral_pronouns. Make your choice!

This is really a difficult subject, and there isn't yet agreement on it.

FUN FACT: Even in most other languages the problem isn't solved. It is often even made worse. In Romance languages, like Portuguese (my language), there isn't a correspondent for it or they (singular), which means we must choose only between he or he/she.

FUN FACT: However, in Romance languages, there is yet another problem which doesn't exist in English: there are two words for they (plural)— one male and another female — which begs the question, ‘What do we do with a group of people made up of both men and women?’. For this problem, the standard solution has always been to use the ‘male they’; this is standard usage, and I have never heard anyone question this: it is really the only option, for there isn't a ‘neuter they’, as it happens in English.

Philip · Answer

MrGuedesHowever, in Romance languages, there is yet another problem which doesn't exist in English: there are two words for they (plural)— one male and another female — which begs the question,

French has on, which fairly well solves the problem Then, the possessive one uses for his/her is always son/sa, but depending on the grammatical gender or the noun rather than on the physical gender of the 'owner'.

MrGuedes · Answer

PhilipFrench has on, which fairly well solves the problem

No, that doesn't solve any of the two problems. French on means we (and only we, as far as I know), so I doesn't solve either problem 1 (what to use for third-person singular when the *** of the person is not mentioned) or problem 2 (what to use for third-person plural when you have a group with both sexes).

For problem 1, with il for he, elle for she, and nothing for it or they (singular), the dilemma is restrained to il vs il/elle (analogous to English he vs he/she).

For problem 2, with ils for the male they, elles for the female they, and nothing for the actual English neuter they, the dilemma is not comparable to English; however, the standard solution is ils.

PhilipThen, the possessive one uses for his/her is always son/sa, but depending on the grammatical gender or the noun rather than on the physical gender of the 'owner'.

Yes, that solves part of the problem. You do not have to worry about the English dilemma ‘his book vs his/her book vs its book vs their book’ in French, because the word is always son (which is male, but only because the French word for book is male, and not because the owner is male).

But you still have to worry about the English dilemma ‘he has a book vs he/she has a book vs it has a book vs they have a book’ in French, because there, the words il and elle do depend on the owner, not the object owned.

Anonymous · Answer

AppleFanboy Within the most developed countries, the average child goes to school for twelve years before really entering society. It learns geography, history and similar subjects. It is thus heavily socialized in a particular world view.I thought it cannot be used to a person.But why in this sentence is 'it' used to a child?

In that context, using it, is odd and unnecessary. It would be a lot more common and natural to say they.

Using 'it' to a child?

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