The essay will begin looking at the medieval period to start and how childhood did not exist during this era including the gender barriers used and how childhood then progressed into the Victorian era where historians and scholars believed this was where childhood had started, then looking into how childhood is seen in today’s societies.
The concept of childhood in relation to medieval society shows us that “child” is a word that was used in common speech such as today’s generation using the word “lad” as seen in Aries (1962). Childhood in medieval times did not exist, this was not to say that children were despised or neglected but once children got to a stage that they no longer needed a mothering figure as support such as their mother, …show more content…
It is seen in Hendrick (1997) that Childhood is neither a natural nor universal part of human groups but that it appears as a specific cultural and structural component of many societies. His findings show that through biological immaturity may be natural, it is what particular societies make of the immaturity which differs through different cultures. In the early Victorian age manliness represented a concern with a successful transition from Christian immaturity into maturity Mangan and Walvin (1987, cited in Cox, 1996). The homes of the Victorians were very female influenced so boys over the age of seven were expected to go to public schools if parents could afford to send them the public schools were put in place for boys to learn how to become men. It was deemed that girls had their dolls and needlework and were content. Cunningham (2006) explains that boys had to rough it out, they were the father of the man and had to fight their way to honour. This is where sports had been made rough to prepare them for their turbulent career …show more content…
But they only went to a local day school for around three years before having to go to boarding school until the age of seventeen Cunningham (2006). For lower-class girls they often had to miss local school to help their mothers. The purpose of this was to prepare girls for marriage. Moving onto the early twentieth century Cunningham (2006) suggests that both children and parents preferred a dame school or more commonly known as a private school. These types of schools were run privately for profit, Parents paid a fee then had some control including letting children go to school when it suited them. The curriculum in these schools were devoted to basic skills but most of all was to teach them how to
The concept of childhood in relation to medieval society shows us that “child” is a word that was used in common speech such as today’s generation using the word “lad” as seen in Aries (1962). Childhood in medieval times did not exist, this was not to say that children were despised or neglected but once children got to a stage that they no longer needed a mothering figure as support such as their mother, …show more content…
It is seen in Hendrick (1997) that Childhood is neither a natural nor universal part of human groups but that it appears as a specific cultural and structural component of many societies. His findings show that through biological immaturity may be natural, it is what particular societies make of the immaturity which differs through different cultures. In the early Victorian age manliness represented a concern with a successful transition from Christian immaturity into maturity Mangan and Walvin (1987, cited in Cox, 1996). The homes of the Victorians were very female influenced so boys over the age of seven were expected to go to public schools if parents could afford to send them the public schools were put in place for boys to learn how to become men. It was deemed that girls had their dolls and needlework and were content. Cunningham (2006) explains that boys had to rough it out, they were the father of the man and had to fight their way to honour. This is where sports had been made rough to prepare them for their turbulent career …show more content…
But they only went to a local day school for around three years before having to go to boarding school until the age of seventeen Cunningham (2006). For lower-class girls they often had to miss local school to help their mothers. The purpose of this was to prepare girls for marriage. Moving onto the early twentieth century Cunningham (2006) suggests that both children and parents preferred a dame school or more commonly known as a private school. These types of schools were run privately for profit, Parents paid a fee then had some control including letting children go to school when it suited them. The curriculum in these schools were devoted to basic skills but most of all was to teach them how to