Childhood in the 21st century is different from childhood in the 16th century or working class childhood in the 19th century. There used to be a large number of orphans, which meant that many children had to look after themselves.
Aries believes that childhood is not just a biological state associated with immaturity and adolescence, it is also a social experience, which differs from one historical period to another.
Aries and Lawrence Stone suggest that in medieval society the idea of childhood and adolescence, as independent categories to adults did not exist. Children were considered little adults. They took part in the same work and play activities as adults. They didn’t have distinctive toys and games, we now take for granted as childish things. Children were not considered as special as is today. People were indifferent to them even unfriendly. This was probably due to high infant mortality. One quarter or more infants did not survive their first year compared with less than one per cent of infants in the West today.
Stone argues a similar view he suggests that pre-industrial families were a unit of production working on land or occupied in crafts together. Children were prepared to help parents from a very young age. Those who did not help with household production usually left to become servants or apprentices. After industrialisation there is some evidence that these attitudes towards children continued, especially in the working class where children were repeatedly found to be increasing family income by working in factories, mines and mills. The middle-class attitudes towards children started to change in this period, when there was a growth in parental and marital love in middle-class families and as infant mortality rate started to fall, although there was a growth in the authoritarian power of fathers.
Social attitudes towards children started to essentially change with the introduction of the Factory Acts (1819) which released children from mines and factories and the introduction of mass education in 1870. Better standards of living and nutrition also lead to decreasing infant mortality rate. Such changes didn't necessarily result in a more child-centred society. The state's decision to ban children from mines and educate them had more to do with need to increase the capability of the workforce by making them more numerate and literate. This was because of the need to teach them moral compliance and the contraction in the number of jobs available because of recession and technology.
There is significant evidence that children were treated crudely throughout this period. Child prostitution and abuse were common whilst the age of sexual consent was not raised to 16 until the late 19th century. However, the development of the nuclear family in the Twentieth-century as a more child-centred family and the fact that childhood and adolescence were now seen as separate categories from adulthood, which helped to change these attitudes. Children are seen to be in need of special care and guardianship whereas teenagers are susceptible to a range of social and cultural controls.
Concern that the rights of children are seen in changes in state policy towards children since the Second World War. E.g. The state has extended the amount of time children spend in Education. The state also emphasised the needs and protection of children at the expense of the rights of parents. E.g. the 1980 Child Care Act gives importance to the “wishes and feelings of child”. The Support Act (1991) re-emphasises that the principal concern of the state should be the child. Recent emphasis put the importance of the authorities listening to what children themselves say about experiences and necessity. They stress that there should be a partnership between local authorities and parents to protect the welfare of children. Some children have recently used the Act to divorce their parents. Others have also “forced” separate parents to see them more.
The 20th century is seen as the century of the child in the UK. Social attitudes towards children continue to be positive. Children are seen to be in need of society’s protection, although society in the form of the mass media is often seen as threat to psychological well being of children. The responsibility of children is firmly located in the family and supported by the state in terms of legislation. Women in particular are largely viewed responsible for children's welfare. Sociology of childhood is surprisingly lacking in research about Experiences.
