Childhood in history

  • Period: 3500 BCE to

    Infanticide

    Infanticide was a common practice until around the 1970. It mus be clarified that the change of perception of childhood has progressively learned. Justifications for this might have have been physical, gender based or psychologically based.
  • 210 BCE

    Scaring children with ghost stories.

    Stories to scare and "discipline children" have been present for a long time. They never have taken in account the child's needs or feeling when reacting to these kinds of situations.
  • Period: 1 CE to

    Beating children

    This was, and is in many places still, the norm. Children were considered to be bad or to be posses by the devil and the beatings were a direct response towards this belief.
  • 374

    Don't kill children (Rome)

    Killing a child would be considered as a crime.
  • Period: 500 to 1500

    Lack of children

    The conception of "childhood" didn't exist and children were depicted in religious painting weirdly or as adults.
  • Period: 500 to 1500

    Little servants

    Children were used as servants for the monarchy and households. The conception of childhood was not yet had.
  • 800

    Asylum for Children

    The first asylum for abandoned children was found in England by Dateo of Milan. Abandonment of children was a common practice across Europe.
  • 1100

    Child molesting

    Children were often molested till they were about 7 years of age. By their parents or by any adult around them. This happened to Louis VII of France.
  • Childhood is bord (philosophically)

    JJ Rousseau considered childhood in a different way. He inspected the idea of "Childhood"
  • Swaddling

    Swaddling was a common practice for the same reason it still remains something normal in Easter Europe. This has to do with the fear of having the kid hurt themselves.
  • Projection and reverse image of childhood

    Parents saw in Children their desires, hopes and frustrations. For this there was a lot of pain and love (at the same time) inflicted upon a child
  • Genital mutilation

    As a practice that comes with ancient beliefs, parents would mutilate part of their genitals to reduce sensitivity on the area o to subtract further sexual pleasure. This was a result of regarding sexual activity as a sinful thing.
  • Children's Rights

    The agreement of Children's Rights was made by the United Nations.