Conception of Childhood

Childhood in Rome

450 BCE

At Rome, education was directed in a physical way, supported by sports activities. It was also exclusive for boys. As for girls, they were learning about home chores, since that's what was expected for them to do, so they shouldn't know about philosophy or any more content than that.

Infanticide

1 BCE

Infanticide during antiquity has usually been played down despite literally hundreds of clear references by ancient writers that it was an accepted, everyday occurrence. Children were thrown into rivers, flung into dung-heaps and cess trenches, “potted” in jars to starve to death, and exposed on every hill and roadside.

Middle age

1201

Children were considered small men who must become real men quickly, the child was conceived as a homunculus (man in miniature). Consequently, the child must be educated to be "reformed". Educating and raising involves physical care, discipline, obedience, and love for God but there are no references to the need for love for good child development.​

Swaddling

1400

The belief that infants were felt to be on the verge of turning into totally evil beings is one of the reasons why they were tied up, or swaddled, so long and so tightly.

Parents own their children

1400

Few children had proper access to education, and if they did, it was all about serving god. Parents were conceived as the owners of their children, therefore, the kids owe them absolute discipline, respect, and obedience. Parents could dispose of children however they liked: they could reprimand, punish or even negotiate and sell them.

Child labor

1550

During this time, the big industries considered children, since they were five, as creatures able to work in a light but the extended journey thus they hired them as their workforce. Parents, in need, had no other choice but to agree.

Renaissance-Century XVII

1600

Thanks to this moment in time, children weren't needed to work any longer. And those who were sons and daughters of wealthy people were raised by their own servants until they were old enough to find a job, there was no relationship between children and parents.
Even at a time like this, "childhood" was still conceived as the worst state, more vile and abject thing on earth.

Childhood education

1693

John Locked believed that educating children wasn't only their parents' concern but also a very big responsibility of the state.

Pestalozzi

1800

He believed in a whole-child approach that focused on the head, heart, and hands. For Pestalozzi, education was a vehicle for creating a more just society.

From evil to good

1850

Jean Jacques Rousseau's remarks that children were born well by nature, people also started to think so. Thus, education began to become important and it was decided that it has to be adapted to the particular characteristics the child was born with.

Children's charter

1889

The Children's Charter set out to bring together existing legislation and implement improvements in several core areas. This was designed to protect the poorest and most vulnerable children in society.

Freud's remarks

1900

Freud's theory was about parent-child relationships and their correlation with social change. He brought importance to the role of children and their psychological influence in the establishment of a grown individual.

Geneva Declaration

1924

In 1924, the League of Nations (LON) adopted the Geneva Declaration, a historic document that recognised and affirmed for the first time the existence of rights specific to children and the responsibility of adults towards children.

All children have rights

Nov 20, 1959

This is the day where the UN approves the Children's Rights. Children were considered social individuals who had rights.

Parenting role in childhood

1960

Parents play an important role in their children's lives, they not only provide them but are also responsible for their education and all the things they may need in order to grow well. The parents now care about their child's thoughts and emotions.

Convention on the Rights of the Child

1989

Childhood was defined as the time for children to be in school and play, grow strong and confident with the love and encouragement of their family and an extended community of caring and comprehensive adults.

Children as the future of society

2000

In the 21st Century, children are conceived as the future of society, therefore child laws were created in order to guarantee their well being and provide them with a healthy environment where they can properly grow.

Childhood nowadays

2019

The fights for children's rights has been of much help, and because of it, education has been reformed following the purpose to make sure children can entirely and properly develop social and motor skills for their whole life. It is now recognized that children have both, same rights as grown-ups, and extra ones because they are in a process of growing and development. And thus, they have to be protected.