0:00:12.490,0:00:19.699
thank you very much well thank you for

0:00:14.629,0:00:22.880
coming out on a wet and travel

0:00:19.699,0:00:25.669
interrupted evening I got on a train at

0:00:22.880,0:00:28.640
fabricon I was told it was going to go

0:00:25.669,0:00:29.779
slow took of the danger of floods and

0:00:28.640,0:00:32.780
thought I wouldn't get here but here I

0:00:29.779,0:00:36.440
am and what I want to tell you this

0:00:32.780,0:00:39.730
evening is a story of two narratives

0:00:36.440,0:00:43.600
about childhood once progressive and

0:00:39.730,0:00:50.300
positive and the others depressing and

0:00:43.600,0:00:53.780
negative in 1942 the poet in SCS Sylvia

0:00:50.300,0:00:56.570
Lind admitted that year that we have our

0:00:53.780,0:00:59.120
temporary misfortunes but he was

0:00:56.570,0:01:02.660
confident that the story of English

0:00:59.120,0:01:10.490
children is a story that moves towards a

0:01:02.660,0:01:12.439
happy ending try saying that in 2014 no

0:01:10.490,0:01:14.990
one now imagines that the story of

0:01:12.439,0:01:17.990
English children is moving towards a

0:01:14.990,0:01:20.389
happy ending news reporting of the state

0:01:17.990,0:01:23.840
of childhood is almost uniformly

0:01:20.389,0:01:27.350
negative children we know we learn our

0:01:23.840,0:01:30.289
obese children suffer high rates of

0:01:27.350,0:01:32.719
self-harming and mental illness children

0:01:30.289,0:01:35.929
are described as couch potatoes slumped

0:01:32.719,0:01:39.490
in front of screens children suffer from

0:01:35.929,0:01:42.529
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

0:01:39.490,0:01:45.170
children are materialistic hooked on

0:01:42.529,0:01:47.450
consumerism an alarming number of

0:01:45.170,0:01:51.529
children's need to be autistic or to

0:01:47.450,0:01:54.020
suffer from dyslexia and since the 1970s

0:01:51.529,0:01:56.929
so research shows the world which

0:01:54.020,0:02:01.819
children explore on their own has shrunk

0:01:56.929,0:02:04.310
by a factor of nine this is not a purely

0:02:01.819,0:02:07.340
British phenomenon but according to what

0:02:04.310,0:02:11.870
we read it's worse in Britain than

0:02:07.340,0:02:15.349
anywhere else when in 2007 UNICEF did a

0:02:11.870,0:02:17.930
survey of children in 21 advanced

0:02:15.349,0:02:22.040
economies you probably know where the

0:02:17.930,0:02:24.680
united kingdom came 21st

0:02:22.040,0:02:26.739
and things don't seem to be getting

0:02:24.680,0:02:30.859
better there was a report last year

0:02:26.739,0:02:33.230
showing that three-quarters of German

0:02:30.859,0:02:36.709
junior school children were allowed to

0:02:33.230,0:02:42.650
travel home from school alone only one

0:02:36.709,0:02:44.989
quarter or British children in 2006 sue

0:02:42.650,0:02:48.319
Palmer published the book called toxic

0:02:44.989,0:02:52.099
childhood our children's he argued are

0:02:48.319,0:02:55.280
being poisoned not only by the food they

0:02:52.099,0:02:57.709
eat and the drink they drink but also by

0:02:55.280,0:03:00.919
the messages they receive and that

0:02:57.709,0:03:06.109
invite them into a world of consumption

0:03:00.919,0:03:10.400
and sexualisation so here are the two

0:03:06.109,0:03:16.120
narratives I want to show how and why

0:03:10.400,0:03:20.599
Sylvia Lynde was so optimistic in 1942

0:03:16.120,0:03:24.970
how that optimism survived for another

0:03:20.599,0:03:28.549
30 years or so after 1942 but then

0:03:24.970,0:03:32.349
collapsed in the early 1970s to be

0:03:28.549,0:03:35.030
succeeded by the negative narrative and

0:03:32.349,0:03:37.549
I want to suggest that the power of

0:03:35.030,0:03:40.459
these narratives is such that they form

0:03:37.549,0:03:43.329
a framework within which we fit

0:03:40.459,0:03:46.669
everything we hear about children and

0:03:43.329,0:03:49.940
childhood further that we go out to look

0:03:46.669,0:03:52.699
for facts which will reinforce the

0:03:49.940,0:03:56.260
narrative so let me start with the

0:03:52.699,0:03:59.659
progressive narrative it's shaped as a

0:03:56.260,0:04:04.400
romance that most basic of human stories

0:03:59.659,0:04:07.030
it starts in the olden times once upon a

0:04:04.400,0:04:10.430
time a historically unspecific period

0:04:07.030,0:04:13.189
when children like adults lived in the

0:04:10.430,0:04:15.190
countryside help their parents around

0:04:13.189,0:04:17.570
the house in the garden on the farm

0:04:15.190,0:04:20.599
gradually taking on more responsible

0:04:17.570,0:04:23.570
roles as they grew older there was no

0:04:20.599,0:04:26.870
great sentimentality about children life

0:04:23.570,0:04:29.409
was too hard and demanding for that they

0:04:26.870,0:04:33.320
were treated so the story claimed as

0:04:29.409,0:04:34.849
little adults though that phrase i think

0:04:33.320,0:04:39.159
is an imposition

0:04:34.849,0:04:43.339
earlier centuries by the 19th century

0:04:39.159,0:04:47.240
neither families nor society were

0:04:43.339,0:04:55.610
child-oriented the life course was

0:04:47.240,0:04:57.309
pictured as a triangle you started at

0:04:55.610,0:05:01.699
the base of the triangle was a baby

0:04:57.309,0:05:06.459
climbed up to the height in middle age

0:05:01.699,0:05:14.749
and then began the descent downwards

0:05:06.459,0:05:18.679
their childhood a Shakespeare described

0:05:14.749,0:05:22.149
it consisted of the infant mewling and

0:05:18.679,0:05:25.939
puking and of the whining schoolboy

0:05:22.149,0:05:28.369
going unwillingly to school the

0:05:25.939,0:05:33.110
childhood years were not as they were to

0:05:28.369,0:05:35.749
become the best years of life this world

0:05:33.110,0:05:38.689
depicted as stable and hardly changing

0:05:35.749,0:05:40.939
was according to the narrative disrupted

0:05:38.689,0:05:44.089
by two forces that came to prominence in

0:05:40.939,0:05:46.819
the late 18th century the first was

0:05:44.089,0:05:50.149
romanticism and the second was the

0:05:46.819,0:05:52.639
Industrial Revolution if we look a

0:05:50.149,0:05:55.279
little bit before romanticism took hold

0:05:52.639,0:05:58.069
I think we could argue until the late

0:05:55.279,0:06:01.909
18th century there were two main modes

0:05:58.069,0:06:04.729
of child-rearing the first strongest

0:06:01.909,0:06:08.329
amongst Puritans saw the baby is born in

0:06:04.729,0:06:11.240
sin the task of parenting was to bring

0:06:08.329,0:06:14.899
the child to a consciousness of sin and

0:06:11.240,0:06:16.789
to the means of salvation this was not

0:06:14.899,0:06:21.249
something that could be left to chance

0:06:16.789,0:06:26.979
or time children's lives were fragile

0:06:21.249,0:06:29.749
isaac watts in 1715 in his divine songs

0:06:26.979,0:06:33.079
attempted in easy language for the use

0:06:29.749,0:06:34.939
of children taught children to sing this

0:06:33.079,0:06:38.649
you might just might try and imagine

0:06:34.939,0:06:42.079
yourself aged about six singing this

0:06:38.649,0:06:42.969
there is an hour when I must die nor do

0:06:42.079,0:06:46.029
I know how

0:06:42.969,0:06:49.149
sunt will come a thousand children young

0:06:46.029,0:06:54.549
as I are called by death to hear their

0:06:49.149,0:06:57.549
doom the second mode of child rearing

0:06:54.549,0:07:00.459
strongly influenced by john locke's 1693

0:06:57.549,0:07:02.199
some thoughts concerning education place

0:07:00.459,0:07:04.419
the emphasis on instilling in two

0:07:02.199,0:07:06.489
children habits and thoughts that work

0:07:04.419,0:07:09.999
induced to the emergence of rational

0:07:06.489,0:07:12.759
adults education as far as possible was

0:07:09.999,0:07:16.679
to be made enjoyable but all to the end

0:07:12.759,0:07:19.629
of producing the desired adult

0:07:16.679,0:07:23.049
romanticism in this context was I think

0:07:19.629,0:07:25.629
revolutionary the child moved center

0:07:23.049,0:07:28.509
stage and was far from being painted

0:07:25.629,0:07:32.259
with original sin or as in the Lockean

0:07:28.509,0:07:35.769
view a mere blank slate TIG Blake's

0:07:32.259,0:07:40.869
Blake's songs of innocence he has a two

0:07:35.769,0:07:44.409
day old child talking to his mother I

0:07:40.869,0:07:48.729
have no I there no name I am but two

0:07:44.409,0:07:54.419
days old what shall I call thee I happy

0:07:48.729,0:07:57.639
am joy is my name sweet joy before thee

0:07:54.419,0:07:59.289
now that may sound very obvious and

0:07:57.639,0:08:03.099
simple but it is actually I think a

0:07:59.289,0:08:06.009
totally new way of looking at childhood

0:08:03.099,0:08:07.989
and it had it that is not a very good

0:08:06.009,0:08:10.659
reproduction of a famous picture the age

0:08:07.989,0:08:12.759
of innocence by Joshua Reynolds but this

0:08:10.659,0:08:15.249
became the template from then onwards

0:08:12.759,0:08:18.039
for how you would depict children

0:08:15.249,0:08:23.889
children sitting amidst nature in the

0:08:18.039,0:08:26.860
country innocent Wordsworth in his

0:08:23.889,0:08:29.769
enormous Lorraine influential but

0:08:26.860,0:08:32.229
curiously titled Oh Don intimations of

0:08:29.769,0:08:35.889
immortality from recollections of early

0:08:32.229,0:08:38.198
childhood claimed in a phrase which came

0:08:35.889,0:08:41.490
much mocked later but claimed that

0:08:38.198,0:08:46.569
babies came trailing clouds of glory

0:08:41.490,0:08:49.959
from God with our home children will now

0:08:46.569,0:08:53.200
messengers from God imbued with a

0:08:49.959,0:08:56.890
sensitivity to nature and an in

0:08:53.200,0:09:00.100
on morality they could teach adults how

0:08:56.890,0:09:02.650
to live a good childhood became the

0:09:00.100,0:09:05.560
foundation block for later life but

0:09:02.650,0:09:09.730
growing up in this perspective was a

0:09:05.560,0:09:12.970
process of loss childhood was now seen

0:09:09.730,0:09:18.280
as the best time of life the life course

0:09:12.970,0:09:20.800
thereafter downhill childhood they

0:09:18.280,0:09:23.860
reiterated again and again should be

0:09:20.800,0:09:26.830
happy is an indication of how pervasive

0:09:23.860,0:09:29.800
the influence of Romanticism was that in

0:09:26.830,0:09:32.260
the 1840s Thomas Guthrie a Scottish

0:09:29.800,0:09:35.440
evangelical minister forgetting about

0:09:32.260,0:09:40.570
original sin could proclaim that God

0:09:35.440,0:09:43.270
made childhood to be happy and what was

0:09:40.570,0:09:46.510
the kind of trigger for him saying that

0:09:43.270,0:09:48.190
was watching children at play in the

0:09:46.510,0:09:50.680
grassmarket in Edinburgh which was a

0:09:48.190,0:09:54.940
extremely poor part of Edinburgh at that

0:09:50.680,0:09:56.110
time now the other big impact the late

0:09:54.940,0:09:59.380
18th century was the Industrial

0:09:56.110,0:10:02.200
Revolution which itself became

0:09:59.380,0:10:06.640
associated with the exploitation of

0:10:02.200,0:10:09.220
child labor in factories and mines as

0:10:06.640,0:10:12.010
Jael and Barbara Hammond put it in the

0:10:09.220,0:10:13.180
town labourer 1917 I don't think it

0:10:12.010,0:10:15.400
would have been at all controversial

0:10:13.180,0:10:18.400
when they wrote it during the first

0:10:15.400,0:10:21.030
phase of the Industrial Revolution the

0:10:18.400,0:10:24.190
employment of children on a vast scale

0:10:21.030,0:10:29.800
became the most important social feature

0:10:24.190,0:10:33.040
of English life child labor was came to

0:10:29.800,0:10:35.410
be seen as a denial of childhood as the

0:10:33.040,0:10:37.780
romantics imagined it Coleridge for

0:10:35.410,0:10:41.080
example took a leading role in trying to

0:10:37.780,0:10:43.750
end it and we need to sort to get us a

0:10:41.080,0:10:46.180
sense of how revolutionary in my view

0:10:43.750,0:10:48.520
this was to look back to what people

0:10:46.180,0:10:52.510
were saying in the late 17th early 18th

0:10:48.520,0:10:56.560
century John Locke had war had wanted

0:10:52.510,0:10:59.320
all children above three whose families

0:10:56.560,0:11:01.420
sought relief from the parish to be sent

0:10:59.320,0:11:02.649
to a working to school a school where

0:11:01.420,0:11:07.420
they would work too

0:11:02.649,0:11:10.540
keep Daniel Defoe rejoiced in reports of

0:11:07.420,0:11:14.490
children of four or five earning their

0:11:10.540,0:11:16.899
own keep in the textile trades

0:11:14.490,0:11:18.670
romanticism in combination with evidence

0:11:16.899,0:11:21.129
of children's working conditions in the

0:11:18.670,0:11:25.209
Industrial Revolution killed such

0:11:21.129,0:11:27.999
notions by the 1830s samuel roberts a

0:11:25.209,0:11:31.149
leading campaigner against the use of

0:11:27.999,0:11:35.649
boys to clean chimneys was describing

0:11:31.149,0:11:39.490
how ever a toiling child death make us

0:11:35.649,0:11:43.420
sad such children it was said were

0:11:39.490,0:11:46.480
children without childhood childhood now

0:11:43.420,0:11:50.649
painted in romantic colors for Sylvia

0:11:46.480,0:11:53.429
Lind in 1942 the story of the industrial

0:11:50.649,0:11:56.740
age is the story of the martyrdom of

0:11:53.429,0:12:00.009
children if the progressive story of

0:11:56.740,0:12:06.069
childhood is a romance the Industrial

0:12:00.009,0:12:09.790
Revolution was the crisis but a romance

0:12:06.069,0:12:14.319
has to have a happy ending fortunately

0:12:09.790,0:12:17.019
for both nation and children rescue was

0:12:14.319,0:12:18.399
at hand in the story as it was

0:12:17.019,0:12:21.189
constructed in the second half of the

0:12:18.399,0:12:24.249
19th century philanthropists Lord Ashley

0:12:21.189,0:12:27.069
most prominent took up the cause of the

0:12:24.249,0:12:30.569
children in mines and factories he was

0:12:27.069,0:12:34.899
the biography of 19 26 foot it our

0:12:30.569,0:12:37.749
British Abraham Lincoln the Emancipator

0:12:34.899,0:12:41.589
of industrial England or in another

0:12:37.749,0:12:46.529
phrase the Moses who led the children of

0:12:41.589,0:12:46.529
bondage into their Promised Land the

0:12:46.620,0:12:56.679
Promised Land was in one since childhood

0:12:51.179,0:12:58.839
more mundane Lee it was school Ashley's

0:12:56.679,0:13:01.629
concern stretched beyond working

0:12:58.839,0:13:03.730
children he took up the cause of stewed

0:13:01.629,0:13:05.319
children who were at the forefront of

0:13:03.730,0:13:08.079
public attention in the mid-nineteenth

0:13:05.319,0:13:10.179
century here to school was seen as the

0:13:08.079,0:13:13.059
remedy first in the ragged schools

0:13:10.179,0:13:14.209
pioneered in the 1840s and then in a

0:13:13.059,0:13:17.749
spread of compulsory

0:13:14.209,0:13:20.319
schooling in a late 19th century and

0:13:17.749,0:13:24.050
again we have numerous pictures of

0:13:20.319,0:13:28.189
street children and a street life and of

0:13:24.050,0:13:29.829
here is the rescue in operations feel

0:13:28.189,0:13:33.439
like these are the one of Barnardo's

0:13:29.829,0:13:35.899
faked before and after photos which he

0:13:33.439,0:13:37.490
used the John raise money even dress up

0:13:35.899,0:13:38.509
please you would finally still do it

0:13:37.490,0:13:40.490
that that wasn't pretty miserable

0:13:38.509,0:13:42.829
circumstances but he had a special model

0:13:40.490,0:13:45.350
clothing for them and he made them look

0:13:42.829,0:13:48.170
thoroughly miserable here he is age 14

0:13:45.350,0:13:52.579
photographed before and after and he'd

0:13:48.170,0:13:54.920
been rescued in the story of the rescue

0:13:52.579,0:13:57.439
there was one further element the rescue

0:13:54.920,0:14:01.149
of children from neglect mistreatment

0:13:57.439,0:14:04.850
and abuse by adults here the NSPCC

0:14:01.149,0:14:08.749
founded in 1889 was seen as playing the

0:14:04.850,0:14:11.420
crucial role the NSPCC was supremely

0:14:08.749,0:14:13.850
successful in constructing a version of

0:14:11.420,0:14:16.850
history in which children enjoyed no

0:14:13.850,0:14:21.129
protection under law and it itself until

0:14:16.850,0:14:21.129
it itself provided such protection

0:14:21.339,0:14:26.360
government in harness with

0:14:24.049,0:14:29.839
philanthropists played a crucial role in

0:14:26.360,0:14:32.360
the rescue of children it passed factory

0:14:29.839,0:14:35.110
apps and education acts and what were

0:14:32.360,0:14:39.889
called children's charters is set up

0:14:35.110,0:14:42.860
inspectorate's arnold toynbee who was an

0:14:39.889,0:14:44.990
inspirational figure in setting up the

0:14:42.860,0:14:49.189
notion of the Industrial Revolution as a

0:14:44.990,0:14:51.589
social crisis tremble to think what this

0:14:49.189,0:14:58.249
country would have been but for the

0:14:51.589,0:15:00.589
factory acts romanticism impact and

0:14:58.249,0:15:05.689
resonance I think left three lasting

0:15:00.589,0:15:09.139
legacies first childhood as the best

0:15:05.689,0:15:11.029
time of life should be prolonged the

0:15:09.139,0:15:13.339
raising of the school leaving age was

0:15:11.029,0:15:20.929
the most influential way of doing this

0:15:13.339,0:15:23.449
starting at ten in 1818 now 18 second

0:15:20.929,0:15:27.260
children and adults should as far as

0:15:23.449,0:15:30.590
possible inhabit inhabit separate realms

0:15:27.260,0:15:33.230
the adult world defined as dangerous for

0:15:30.590,0:15:35.990
children special spaces should be

0:15:33.230,0:15:39.860
created for children schools playgrounds

0:15:35.990,0:15:45.080
and adult spaces such as pubs denied

0:15:39.860,0:15:48.710
them and third romanticism provided a

0:15:45.080,0:15:51.500
story a narrative of things getting

0:15:48.710,0:15:54.020
better and we can see that narrative in

0:15:51.500,0:15:56.330
place with the reflections on childhood

0:15:54.020,0:16:00.290
offered on the occasion of Queen

0:15:56.330,0:16:02.840
Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897 the

0:16:00.290,0:16:06.440
end of the century and then queen with

0:16:02.840,0:16:10.040
Queen Victoria's death the romance was

0:16:06.440,0:16:11.780
now complete children had gone through

0:16:10.040,0:16:15.260
the crisis of the Industrial Revolution

0:16:11.780,0:16:20.050
and been rescued for childhood the

0:16:15.260,0:16:23.060
nation could congratulate itself in 1897

0:16:20.050,0:16:26.990
w clark hall a barrister who worked with

0:16:23.060,0:16:30.500
the NSPCC described how when Victoria

0:16:26.990,0:16:33.190
came to the throne the great juggernaut

0:16:30.500,0:16:36.680
car of unscrupulous commercialism

0:16:33.190,0:16:40.090
private greed and domestic inhumanity

0:16:36.680,0:16:42.590
rolled upon its way with Nanda hinder

0:16:40.090,0:16:44.810
tracing our way back down the dim

0:16:42.590,0:16:47.780
avenues of the years we see the white

0:16:44.810,0:16:52.580
and moldering bones of the child victims

0:16:47.780,0:16:57.260
which is cruel wheels have crushed but

0:16:52.580,0:17:00.860
the juggernaut and now in 1897 been

0:16:57.260,0:17:04.339
halted year by year the number of his

0:17:00.860,0:17:07.730
victims become more few the shouts of

0:17:04.339,0:17:12.800
the happy rescue children more loud and

0:17:07.730,0:17:15.589
more glad happy children themselves led

0:17:12.800,0:17:18.829
the story in the elementary schools they

0:17:15.589,0:17:21.140
sang a song entitled o happy English

0:17:18.829,0:17:22.699
children I found evidence of it both in

0:17:21.140,0:17:25.430
Durham and in Kent but haven't been able

0:17:22.699,0:17:27.290
to find the words you can set yourself a

0:17:25.430,0:17:31.220
task of trying to imagine them if you

0:17:27.290,0:17:33.230
in the rest of this talk here is how the

0:17:31.220,0:17:35.810
Scottish Society for the Prevention of

0:17:33.230,0:17:39.350
Cruelty to Children told the story it

0:17:35.810,0:17:43.810
comes from sicky sparrows the magazine

0:17:39.350,0:17:46.340
of the junior branch the League of pity

0:17:43.810,0:17:47.960
sixty years ago when Victoria came to

0:17:46.340,0:17:50.270
the throne the children of a nation were

0:17:47.960,0:17:53.390
in thousands of instances being done to

0:17:50.270,0:17:55.610
death morally and physically in wretched

0:17:53.390,0:17:58.700
homes in which they slowly pined and

0:17:55.610,0:18:01.250
starved to death in factories closely

0:17:58.700,0:18:04.550
confined and set to watching the droning

0:18:01.250,0:18:06.770
turning wheels until released sick and

0:18:04.550,0:18:08.690
faint at night they crept wearily home

0:18:06.770,0:18:11.390
with no heart to rejoice in their

0:18:08.690,0:18:14.030
childhood no thought but to rest and

0:18:11.390,0:18:17.120
were still down in the dark mines

0:18:14.030,0:18:20.300
underground little helpless naked

0:18:17.120,0:18:22.280
children toiled in the coal pits think

0:18:20.300,0:18:24.530
what that must have been new children

0:18:22.280,0:18:28.850
who loved the bright sunshine and the

0:18:24.530,0:18:32.210
green fields but the rescue happened and

0:18:28.850,0:18:35.360
was ongoing since the Queen's accessions

0:18:32.210,0:18:37.370
city's barrows went on a hundred and

0:18:35.360,0:18:40.280
seven acts of parliament have been

0:18:37.370,0:18:43.820
passed relating to child life and child

0:18:40.280,0:18:46.130
suffering and now you happy children

0:18:43.820,0:18:48.260
throughout the length and breadth of

0:18:46.130,0:18:50.990
Scotland we would appeal to you to

0:18:48.260,0:18:53.630
commemorate the glorious 60 years of our

0:18:50.990,0:18:56.270
queen by joining the league of pity and

0:18:53.630,0:18:59.120
so helping to carry on the work for

0:18:56.270,0:19:02.810
suffering children she has done so much

0:18:59.120,0:19:07.850
to further and we can see again in the

0:19:02.810,0:19:11.630
picturing of children the rescue

0:19:07.850,0:19:15.500
achieved this is kate greenaway sillas

0:19:11.630,0:19:19.390
tration of hark hark the dogs do bark

0:19:15.500,0:19:22.550
the beggars have come to town it's set

0:19:19.390,0:19:25.400
curiously in the countryside there's no

0:19:22.550,0:19:27.920
town there there's a farmhouse and the

0:19:25.400,0:19:31.340
beggars us of disappearing into into the

0:19:27.920,0:19:35.350
background up in the foreground the

0:19:31.340,0:19:39.070
child safely protected by

0:19:35.350,0:19:42.240
is a gate and a dog this is how

0:19:39.070,0:19:46.990
childhood should be enclosed and safe

0:19:42.240,0:19:49.720
within a garden and here is a picture I

0:19:46.990,0:19:50.950
take more or less a random from a book I

0:19:49.720,0:19:52.660
picked up a few years ago called

0:19:50.950,0:19:54.789
children in art which is one of those

0:19:52.660,0:19:57.490
books like you have them post cards you

0:19:54.789,0:20:00.690
can pull out about 50 of them nearly all

0:19:57.490,0:20:04.480
50 of them for something like this of a

0:20:00.690,0:20:07.299
child sitting in nature surrounded

0:20:04.480,0:20:10.000
carefully by animals and this is I think

0:20:07.299,0:20:15.130
from the amount 19 tens or early

0:20:10.000,0:20:17.980
twenties so the story is established I

0:20:15.130,0:20:20.320
think by the turn of 19th 20th century

0:20:17.980,0:20:23.350
and there was no significant threat to

0:20:20.320,0:20:26.799
it in the first half of the 20th century

0:20:23.350,0:20:29.409
rather it became embedded in 1903 the

0:20:26.799,0:20:32.020
author of a standard textbook h2b

0:20:29.409,0:20:35.799
gibbons summarized his account in the

0:20:32.020,0:20:38.380
words only think of the triumph that

0:20:35.799,0:20:43.230
have been won in this generation for the

0:20:38.380,0:20:47.919
children of england won for the century

0:20:43.230,0:20:50.140
2004 and imagine yourself saying that in

0:20:47.919,0:20:52.720
the interwar years the journalists and

0:20:50.140,0:20:59.140
suffragist evilyn sharp described how

0:20:52.720,0:21:02.260
was a young girl in the 1880s sorry she

0:20:59.140,0:21:04.750
had no idea that she stood at the dawn

0:21:02.260,0:21:08.140
of a new age that was going to

0:21:04.750,0:21:11.260
revolutionize all childhood and had done

0:21:08.140,0:21:15.370
so she thought and for the better in

0:21:11.260,0:21:16.929
1813 1930 said George Newman chief

0:21:15.370,0:21:19.539
medical officer in the Ministry of

0:21:16.929,0:21:22.030
Health lecturing to the shafts with

0:21:19.539,0:21:25.539
society a society to commemorate

0:21:22.030,0:21:27.820
Ashley's work could rejoice the one of

0:21:25.539,0:21:32.409
the darkest chapters of our social

0:21:27.820,0:21:36.150
history was over the long and shameful

0:21:32.409,0:21:38.770
story of cruelty and oppression is ended

0:21:36.150,0:21:41.169
children it was frequently said had a

0:21:38.770,0:21:44.290
right to health and happiness and

0:21:41.169,0:21:46.890
increasingly they enjoyed both Sylvia

0:21:44.290,0:21:51.240
Lind celebrated at achievement in

0:21:46.890,0:21:53.880
42 drew gress was not confined to

0:21:51.240,0:21:56.730
Britain the principle behind factory

0:21:53.880,0:21:59.670
legislation claimed Sydney web in 1910

0:21:56.730,0:22:03.330
has spread to every industrial community

0:21:59.670,0:22:08.610
in the old world and the new in the

0:22:03.330,0:22:11.040
1830s people across the world look to

0:22:08.610,0:22:14.550
Britain in horror at his use of child

0:22:11.040,0:22:17.850
labour it had an unenviable not arathi

0:22:14.550,0:22:21.270
shared only by belgium by the early 20th

0:22:17.850,0:22:24.540
century it was priding itself on setting

0:22:21.270,0:22:27.600
the path of progress and a narrative

0:22:24.540,0:22:31.740
kept going I think just about into the

0:22:27.600,0:22:34.400
1970s in both national and international

0:22:31.740,0:22:38.700
level I'll just give you three markers

0:22:34.400,0:22:40.950
in 1973 two very was well-respected

0:22:38.700,0:22:43.200
historians Ivy Pinchbeck and Margaret

0:22:40.950,0:22:45.210
Hewitt published the second of two

0:22:43.200,0:22:47.490
volumes on children in English society

0:22:45.210,0:22:49.860
and their second volume started in the

0:22:47.490,0:22:52.920
18th century and they opened with a

0:22:49.860,0:22:56.880
chapter entitled childhood without

0:22:52.920,0:22:59.730
rights and protection children in the

0:22:56.880,0:23:03.240
18th century described as being little

0:22:59.730,0:23:07.020
adults they end the volume in triumph

0:23:03.240,0:23:14.660
with the children act of 1948 it's a

0:23:07.020,0:23:16.800
story of progress that was 1973 1974

0:23:14.660,0:23:20.360
Lloyd the modes were crossing the

0:23:16.800,0:23:22.800
Atlantic here in America edited a

0:23:20.360,0:23:27.810
influential book called the history of

0:23:22.800,0:23:29.970
childhood and he argued that child

0:23:27.810,0:23:32.940
parent-child relations had gone through

0:23:29.970,0:23:36.510
six stages over time these ones I got at

0:23:32.940,0:23:38.640
the bottom here the Infanta sidle mode

0:23:36.510,0:23:41.370
of child rearing was the first the

0:23:38.640,0:23:44.430
abandonment you just leave your child

0:23:41.370,0:23:47.220
out to die the ambivalent the intrusive

0:23:44.430,0:23:49.440
the socialization is getting better and

0:23:47.220,0:23:51.780
finally in the mid 20th century the

0:23:49.440,0:23:54.119
helping mode and what he's arguing is

0:23:51.780,0:23:55.649
that somehow parents of

0:23:54.119,0:23:57.839
got to a stage when they can actually

0:23:55.649,0:24:01.469
understand their children can help them

0:23:57.839,0:24:03.689
and he starts with this famous or

0:24:01.469,0:24:06.209
infamous statement hits the further back

0:24:03.689,0:24:08.999
in history one goes that lower the level

0:24:06.209,0:24:11.699
of childcare the more likely children

0:24:08.999,0:24:16.979
are to be killed abandoned beaten

0:24:11.699,0:24:20.819
terrorized and sexually abused there's

0:24:16.979,0:24:22.859
still optimism and in 1973 also at the

0:24:20.819,0:24:25.619
world level the International Labour

0:24:22.859,0:24:30.239
Organization passed its minimum wage

0:24:25.619,0:24:35.549
convention setting 15 as the age below

0:24:30.239,0:24:38.669
which no child should work very soon

0:24:35.549,0:24:41.189
that began to look not only not

0:24:38.669,0:24:43.319
achievable but perhaps also something

0:24:41.189,0:24:44.699
that it would not be desirable to

0:24:43.319,0:24:47.279
achieve that you might in some

0:24:44.699,0:24:51.959
circumstances be happy to see children

0:24:47.279,0:24:56.999
below 15 working so what happened in the

0:24:51.959,0:24:59.159
1970s and 80s or 1974 saw the first

0:24:56.999,0:25:01.979
sustained attack on the story and what

0:24:59.159,0:25:05.789
it implied for children John halts book

0:25:01.979,0:25:09.929
escaped from childhood childhood said

0:25:05.789,0:25:12.419
halt was portrayed it childhood pub for

0:25:09.929,0:25:15.719
Holt was portrayed as an institution a

0:25:12.419,0:25:17.549
kind of prison with powers to lock the

0:25:15.719,0:25:20.249
young into 18 years or more of

0:25:17.549,0:25:22.649
subservience e independence and make of

0:25:20.249,0:25:26.239
them a mixture of expensive nuisance

0:25:22.649,0:25:30.019
fragile treasure slave and superpet

0:25:26.239,0:25:33.599
childhood he said goes on far too long

0:25:30.019,0:25:36.449
what is both new and bad about modern

0:25:33.599,0:25:40.889
childhood is that childhood are so cut

0:25:36.449,0:25:43.439
off from the adult world this was the

0:25:40.889,0:25:45.569
first frontal assault on the image of

0:25:43.439,0:25:47.579
childhood that had been built up in the

0:25:45.569,0:25:51.809
19th in the first three quarters of the

0:25:47.579,0:25:53.609
20th century but it would be naive I

0:25:51.809,0:25:55.919
think to place too much emphasis on

0:25:53.609,0:25:58.229
haltingly short-lived movements for

0:25:55.919,0:26:01.859
child liberation which was some extent

0:25:58.229,0:26:03.869
inspired by him larger factors were

0:26:01.859,0:26:06.659
involved in the dismantling of the

0:26:03.869,0:26:07.740
progressive narrative narrative and its

0:26:06.659,0:26:10.650
replacement

0:26:07.740,0:26:13.710
by the one we know today and at route

0:26:10.650,0:26:19.470
they had little directly to do with

0:26:13.710,0:26:22.440
childhood the oil crisis of 1973 seems

0:26:19.470,0:26:24.780
to me the great turning point in the

0:26:22.440,0:26:28.710
history of the post-war world in the

0:26:24.780,0:26:32.280
West the moment when optimism about the

0:26:28.710,0:26:33.990
future shriveled it opened the way to

0:26:32.280,0:26:36.500
what initially was called the

0:26:33.990,0:26:39.630
reaganomics what has come to be called

0:26:36.500,0:26:41.880
neoliberalism the belief in the justice

0:26:39.630,0:26:44.820
and virtue of the market and the

0:26:41.880,0:26:49.110
demonization of welfare states as a drag

0:26:44.820,0:26:51.630
on economic progress and the impact of

0:26:49.110,0:26:55.530
these developments on children was

0:26:51.630,0:26:57.990
dramatic in Britain in the 1980s and 90s

0:26:55.530,0:27:02.309
the proportion of children living in

0:26:57.990,0:27:06.630
poverty rose from one in ten to one in

0:27:02.309,0:27:08.580
three a statistic that led easily into a

0:27:06.630,0:27:11.550
negative narrative that things are

0:27:08.580,0:27:14.130
getting worse in the developing world

0:27:11.550,0:27:17.220
and also in the developed world child

0:27:14.130,0:27:19.050
labor began to increase the facts began

0:27:17.220,0:27:20.520
to impinge on world consciousness

0:27:19.050,0:27:23.070
through the pamphlets published by the

0:27:20.520,0:27:24.720
anti-slavery society between nineteen

0:27:23.070,0:27:26.790
seventy eight and nineteen eighty eight

0:27:24.720,0:27:29.010
but there was also work beginning

0:27:26.790,0:27:33.150
looking at the extent of child labor in

0:27:29.010,0:27:35.540
Britain in the developed world the

0:27:33.150,0:27:37.980
transition from childhood to adulthood

0:27:35.540,0:27:40.200
which in the late sixties and early

0:27:37.980,0:27:42.179
seventies have become concentrated in a

0:27:40.200,0:27:45.450
few short years in the late teens and

0:27:42.179,0:27:48.360
early twenties now stretched out over a

0:27:45.450,0:27:51.660
decade or more this was largely due to

0:27:48.360,0:27:55.710
youth unemployment which has dogged the

0:27:51.660,0:27:57.510
Western world ever since we can see the

0:27:55.710,0:28:00.090
collapse of the old confidence about

0:27:57.510,0:28:02.220
quant constituted the proper childhood

0:28:00.090,0:28:05.330
and about the direction in which society

0:28:02.220,0:28:09.330
was moving taking shape from the early

0:28:05.330,0:28:14.940
1980s and the keynote was now not

0:28:09.330,0:28:17.760
optimism but anxiety within 10 years of

0:28:14.940,0:28:20.550
John Holt's demand for an escape from

0:28:17.760,0:28:24.690
childhood Neil postman

0:28:20.550,0:28:27.990
in 1982 was lamenting the disappearance

0:28:24.690,0:28:29.940
of childhood his was one of a number of

0:28:27.990,0:28:33.420
books published around that time and

0:28:29.940,0:28:36.000
many sins arguing that the barriers that

0:28:33.420,0:28:39.180
probably properly existed between

0:28:36.000,0:28:42.690
childhood and adulthood were being

0:28:39.180,0:28:46.680
dangerously lowered children were

0:28:42.690,0:28:49.290
ceasing to be children postman had many

0:28:46.680,0:28:51.750
successes in laments about the

0:28:49.290,0:28:55.440
undermining of childhood and in

0:28:51.750,0:28:59.400
campaigns to hold on to it or to bring

0:28:55.440,0:29:04.140
it back at a quite different level of

0:28:59.400,0:29:05.790
that of academic history in 1983 Linda

0:29:04.140,0:29:07.820
Pollack published a book called

0:29:05.790,0:29:12.630
Forgotten children parent-child

0:29:07.820,0:29:16.260
relations from 1500 to 1900 and this

0:29:12.630,0:29:17.640
marker really big change in the view of

0:29:16.260,0:29:20.510
the past which would generally gone

0:29:17.640,0:29:24.390
along with the optimistic narrative

0:29:20.510,0:29:27.060
Pollock ruthlessly dismantled the

0:29:24.390,0:29:30.930
progressive narrative far from being a

0:29:27.060,0:29:34.230
hell she said the past was now a country

0:29:30.930,0:29:36.900
where parents had always done the best

0:29:34.230,0:29:40.590
for their children Pollock rigorously

0:29:36.900,0:29:43.320
avoided nostalgia but parents reading it

0:29:40.590,0:29:46.620
in later twentieth-century membra

0:29:43.320,0:29:49.290
Pollock stopped in 1900 might well

0:29:46.620,0:29:53.450
wonder whether 20th century parents were

0:29:49.290,0:29:56.610
doing as well as their forebears

0:29:53.450,0:29:59.760
coinciding with this economic historians

0:29:56.610,0:30:02.100
were dismantling and questioning the

0:29:59.760,0:30:04.110
Industrial Revolution first of all they

0:30:02.100,0:30:06.810
they took away the capital letters and

0:30:04.110,0:30:08.190
then they began to question it all

0:30:06.810,0:30:11.760
together and began to talk about

0:30:08.190,0:30:14.400
evolution and more significant for our

0:30:11.760,0:30:17.430
purposes they quietly dropped child

0:30:14.400,0:30:20.130
labor from his previous simple position

0:30:17.430,0:30:22.860
both in academic history and in the

0:30:20.130,0:30:25.350
progressive narrative and without child

0:30:22.860,0:30:27.510
labor the progressive narrative was

0:30:25.350,0:30:29.820
undermined from within

0:30:27.510,0:30:32.070
many ways i think it was child labour

0:30:29.820,0:30:34.680
the crisis which had brought the

0:30:32.070,0:30:38.400
childhood and the rescue which was then

0:30:34.680,0:30:43.860
described which set the framework for

0:30:38.400,0:30:46.650
the progressive one and so they began to

0:30:43.860,0:30:49.500
emerge a new narrative and it's one

0:30:46.650,0:30:53.520
which people of my generation love to

0:30:49.500,0:30:55.560
tell we were taught the progressive

0:30:53.520,0:30:59.040
narrative and we've seen it

0:30:55.560,0:31:00.840
disintegrates our story begins with our

0:30:59.040,0:31:02.910
own childhoods in the middle years of

0:31:00.840,0:31:06.150
the 20th century and ends in the present

0:31:02.910,0:31:08.430
in our childhoods we say we had freedom

0:31:06.150,0:31:10.650
to explore our world without constant

0:31:08.430,0:31:13.080
adult supervision depending on our

0:31:10.650,0:31:15.120
social background and where we lived our

0:31:13.080,0:31:16.800
mothers might turn us out of doors after

0:31:15.120,0:31:19.770
breakfast and tell us not to come back

0:31:16.800,0:31:22.260
until teatime or we might have the

0:31:19.770,0:31:24.300
freedom to roam the countryside the kind

0:31:22.260,0:31:27.600
of Arthur Ransome swallows and amazons

0:31:24.300,0:31:30.720
charlton no one talked about health and

0:31:27.600,0:31:33.930
safety or about risk assessment autism

0:31:30.720,0:31:36.540
dyslexia self-harming attention deficit

0:31:33.930,0:31:38.880
hyperactivity disorder eating disorders

0:31:36.540,0:31:41.520
the things parents and children worried

0:31:38.880,0:31:44.310
about now none of these featured in our

0:31:41.520,0:31:47.970
lives as far as we knew in those of our

0:31:44.310,0:31:51.590
parents in these childhoods it's always

0:31:47.970,0:31:54.570
summer time we had scrapes and box

0:31:51.590,0:31:57.150
probably some old man sad old man and a

0:31:54.570,0:32:01.050
MAF exposed himself to us but we took

0:31:57.150,0:32:02.850
this in our stride I sometimes think we

0:32:01.050,0:32:05.130
ought to factor in boredom into these

0:32:02.850,0:32:07.290
stories of our childhood but even that

0:32:05.130,0:32:10.080
wouldn't alter the overall conclusion

0:32:07.290,0:32:14.850
our childhoods were happy they were

0:32:10.080,0:32:16.590
proper childhoods I've come to associate

0:32:14.850,0:32:22.080
this pessimistic narrative with the

0:32:16.590,0:32:24.120
Daily Mail in 2006 I was asked to write

0:32:22.080,0:32:26.670
something for the Daily Mail on the

0:32:24.120,0:32:28.440
history of childhood a new opportunity

0:32:26.670,0:32:32.430
of an academic historian to reach her

0:32:28.440,0:32:34.920
new leadership at about one pound a word

0:32:32.430,0:32:36.330
with two thousand words to play with it

0:32:34.920,0:32:40.340
was an offer that was difficult to

0:32:36.330,0:32:43.400
refuse but I was told

0:32:40.340,0:32:46.909
little or some way into writing this

0:32:43.400,0:32:50.000
thing Paul Dacre would take a particular

0:32:46.909,0:32:51.950
interest in what I wrote and unless I

0:32:50.000,0:32:57.190
could show that childhood have got worse

0:32:51.950,0:33:01.730
since the 1950s he wouldn't publish it I

0:32:57.190,0:33:07.760
did my best but not enough it was

0:33:01.730,0:33:10.510
archived no I look back on it I think

0:33:07.760,0:33:14.000
some ways Paul Dacre was quite right he

0:33:10.510,0:33:16.549
knew exactly what his readers wanted to

0:33:14.000,0:33:20.000
hear they wanted to have their story

0:33:16.549,0:33:24.529
confirmed and I was trying to challenge

0:33:20.000,0:33:27.440
it it could be said that this negative

0:33:24.529,0:33:29.559
narrative has such a hold on us is

0:33:27.440,0:33:33.559
actually quite difficult to find any

0:33:29.559,0:33:35.960
space in which to challenge it few of us

0:33:33.559,0:33:38.330
here would probably wish to be thought

0:33:35.960,0:33:41.120
to have a daily male version of

0:33:38.330,0:33:45.860
childhood that in essence i think is

0:33:41.120,0:33:48.020
what many of us have the pessimistic

0:33:45.860,0:33:51.919
narrative gains much of its potency from

0:33:48.020,0:33:55.240
names the names of children who died

0:33:51.919,0:33:59.720
through neglect or been murdered or

0:33:55.240,0:34:03.169
abducted maria colwell killed by her

0:33:59.720,0:34:05.960
stepfather in 1973 despite in the last

0:34:03.169,0:34:07.669
nine months of her life 30 complaints

0:34:05.960,0:34:12.440
about the way her mother and step-father

0:34:07.669,0:34:16.089
treaty to Jasmine Beckford starved and

0:34:12.440,0:34:20.050
battered to death in 1984 James Bulger

0:34:16.089,0:34:23.629
murdered by two other children in 1993

0:34:20.050,0:34:27.379
Sarah Payne murdered by a pedophile in

0:34:23.629,0:34:29.869
two thousand Victoria columbia dying of

0:34:27.379,0:34:32.980
hypothermia in two thousand after months

0:34:29.869,0:34:38.119
of neglect and abuse madeleine mccann

0:34:32.980,0:34:41.929
abducted in 2007 Peter Connolly baby p

0:34:38.119,0:34:46.520
dying in 2007 after neglect by his

0:34:41.929,0:34:50.010
mother and her boyfriend you can add to

0:34:46.520,0:34:53.560
the ghastly roll call and it goes on

0:34:50.010,0:34:56.980
in the negative narrative the world now

0:34:53.560,0:35:02.620
is far from being a safe place for

0:34:56.980,0:35:05.740
children in home street school in the

0:35:02.620,0:35:07.720
institutions often called homes where

0:35:05.740,0:35:12.660
some children have lived many of them

0:35:07.720,0:35:16.270
church-run in the BBC or in hospital a

0:35:12.660,0:35:20.220
story tells us there is danger for

0:35:16.270,0:35:23.290
children so there are the two narratives

0:35:20.220,0:35:27.790
the most obvious question to ask of them

0:35:23.290,0:35:29.770
is are they true I make some attempt to

0:35:27.790,0:35:31.630
answer that but I want also to consider

0:35:29.770,0:35:34.870
the implications of narratives of the

0:35:31.630,0:35:40.990
kind we have both the childhood and for

0:35:34.870,0:35:43.660
children if we ask are they true the

0:35:40.990,0:35:46.060
answer has to be I think yes and no take

0:35:43.660,0:35:48.700
the progressive narrative it's difficult

0:35:46.060,0:35:51.400
to deny that on key measurements like

0:35:48.700,0:35:54.490
life expectancy health standard living

0:35:51.400,0:35:59.110
level of education it was indeed a story

0:35:54.490,0:36:01.990
of progress even on these issue has

0:35:59.110,0:36:04.900
however there was a degree of over

0:36:01.990,0:36:07.330
aching Sir George Newman whom we

0:36:04.900,0:36:10.300
encountered earlier went to great

0:36:07.330,0:36:12.010
lengths to deny evidence of children's

0:36:10.300,0:36:16.300
poor health in the northeast of England

0:36:12.010,0:36:20.230
in the into warriors similarly the Home

0:36:16.300,0:36:22.420
Office consistently downplayed the

0:36:20.230,0:36:24.850
existence of child labour continuing

0:36:22.420,0:36:29.080
child labour in the first half of the

0:36:24.850,0:36:30.880
20th century it's when we widened the

0:36:29.080,0:36:32.950
focus to look at some of the policies

0:36:30.880,0:36:35.200
set in place for the rescue of children

0:36:32.950,0:36:40.000
that the progressive story begins

0:36:35.200,0:36:44.170
seriously defray the NSPCC version of

0:36:40.000,0:36:47.410
history was I'm afraid false there's now

0:36:44.170,0:36:49.540
a lot of evidence that the world's

0:36:47.410,0:36:52.330
protection for children in law before

0:36:49.540,0:36:57.970
the NSPCC this give you one bit of it

0:36:52.330,0:37:03.640
the times between 1785 and 1860 I before

0:36:57.970,0:37:07.990
the NSPCC reported 385 case

0:37:03.640,0:37:11.170
of child neglect and sexual abuse only

0:37:07.990,0:37:14.140
seven percent resulting in a not guilty

0:37:11.170,0:37:16.180
verdict there is considerable evidence

0:37:14.140,0:37:18.190
of neighborhood sanctions against

0:37:16.180,0:37:21.850
parents who were perceived to be cruel

0:37:18.190,0:37:23.320
one magistrate in the 1820s finding

0:37:21.850,0:37:25.360
there was insufficient evidence to

0:37:23.320,0:37:27.970
convict someone was up before him for

0:37:25.360,0:37:30.700
cruelty and abuse looked up into the

0:37:27.970,0:37:33.550
gallery of the court and said I'm sure

0:37:30.700,0:37:40.060
you'll know what to do when he leaves

0:37:33.550,0:37:43.300
the dock and he was attacked but all

0:37:40.060,0:37:46.060
this was forgotten as a NSPCC version of

0:37:43.300,0:37:49.120
history took root there were further

0:37:46.060,0:37:51.850
problems with the rescue narrative for

0:37:49.120,0:37:54.970
many children being rescued meant living

0:37:51.850,0:37:57.970
in an institution and we have become

0:37:54.970,0:38:01.780
very aware of the inhumanity that can

0:37:57.970,0:38:02.950
reside in institutions other rescue

0:38:01.780,0:38:05.920
policies were more far-reaching

0:38:02.950,0:38:08.820
especially the immigration of children

0:38:05.920,0:38:11.200
overseas to Canada and then to Australia

0:38:08.820,0:38:13.000
there might be good intentions behind

0:38:11.200,0:38:15.610
some of these policies but that does not

0:38:13.000,0:38:17.860
defend them against accusations that

0:38:15.610,0:38:21.360
they seriously infringe the rights of

0:38:17.860,0:38:24.820
those children who were emigrated in

0:38:21.360,0:38:27.910
short the invocation to children to be

0:38:24.820,0:38:31.360
happy to acquire is evil in sharp-edged

0:38:27.910,0:38:34.540
the habit of happiness was asking a lot

0:38:31.360,0:38:38.770
of children who experienced nothing that

0:38:34.540,0:38:41.140
might make them happy as to the negative

0:38:38.770,0:38:44.470
narrative there is a gain much truth in

0:38:41.140,0:38:47.890
it but the negative narrative too has

0:38:44.470,0:38:50.410
been built on some shaky foundations the

0:38:47.890,0:38:53.110
thing that strikes me most about much of

0:38:50.410,0:38:56.290
the so-called evidence is a very basic

0:38:53.110,0:38:59.020
confusion between a correlation and a

0:38:56.290,0:39:01.270
calls just to give you an example

0:38:59.020,0:39:04.840
children who watch a lot of television

0:39:01.270,0:39:08.410
are rated more materialistic than those

0:39:04.840,0:39:10.570
who watch less but you can't jump from

0:39:08.410,0:39:13.450
the correlation to say that it's

0:39:10.570,0:39:16.240
watching too much television that makes

0:39:13.450,0:39:16.450
them more materialistic it might equally

0:39:16.240,0:39:19.180
wear

0:39:16.450,0:39:22.869
be the other way around or there might

0:39:19.180,0:39:24.339
be other factors involved and in many

0:39:22.869,0:39:26.290
cases of this which come up in the

0:39:24.339,0:39:28.930
research that's been done people almost

0:39:26.290,0:39:32.200
know the answers to the research before

0:39:28.930,0:39:36.160
they started and how interesting i think

0:39:32.200,0:39:38.349
that materialism which you might say is

0:39:36.160,0:39:40.960
at the heart of politicians appeal to

0:39:38.349,0:39:46.000
the adult public is thought to be quite

0:39:40.960,0:39:50.770
unacceptable for children so are there

0:39:46.000,0:39:54.430
any reasons to be cheerful well when

0:39:50.770,0:39:56.349
unicef in 2013 published the further

0:39:54.430,0:39:58.510
study of children's well-being in the

0:39:56.349,0:40:00.579
richer countries the headlines and

0:39:58.510,0:40:03.820
articles had in some sense been written

0:40:00.579,0:40:07.270
before the report emerged we knew it

0:40:03.820,0:40:11.140
would be bad news the negative narrative

0:40:07.270,0:40:14.369
demanded that it was in fact even on the

0:40:11.140,0:40:17.859
most cursory looks better news than in

0:40:14.369,0:40:21.010
2007 britain had climbed out of bottom

0:40:17.859,0:40:25.240
place and was now 16th out of 29

0:40:21.010,0:40:27.910
countries but while grudgingly accepted

0:40:25.240,0:40:30.910
accepting this most reporting

0:40:27.910,0:40:33.960
highlighted the negative you wouldn't

0:40:30.910,0:40:37.630
have known that the report showed

0:40:33.960,0:40:40.630
improvement as i've shown here a decline

0:40:37.630,0:40:42.010
in infant mortality decline we're

0:40:40.630,0:40:44.980
talking about the first decade of the

0:40:42.010,0:40:47.950
21st century a decline in child poverty

0:40:44.980,0:40:51.609
levels and then from decent from these

0:40:47.950,0:40:54.849
figures on with her 4 11 13 15 year olds

0:40:51.609,0:40:58.089
a decline in the incidence of bullying a

0:40:54.849,0:41:00.730
decline in the incidence of fighting the

0:40:58.089,0:41:04.540
decline in drunkenness a decline in

0:41:00.730,0:41:09.819
cannabis use decline even in being

0:41:04.540,0:41:16.030
overweight apparently and eighty-six

0:41:09.819,0:41:18.130
percent asked to rate their lives gave a

0:41:16.030,0:41:21.700
pretty positive version there's another

0:41:18.130,0:41:23.290
survey of this the 2006 youth survey of

0:41:21.700,0:41:26.950
the british household panel survey

0:41:23.290,0:41:29.450
showed eighty-seven percent of 11 to 16

0:41:26.950,0:41:33.010
year olds rating their life

0:41:29.450,0:41:37.430
the whole as happy rather than unhappy

0:41:33.010,0:41:42.920
nine percent were neutral and only four

0:41:37.430,0:41:45.050
percent unhappy moving beyond the

0:41:42.920,0:41:47.660
question of the truth or otherwise of

0:41:45.050,0:41:52.089
the narratives what are the implications

0:41:47.660,0:41:54.619
of having narratives of this kind at all

0:41:52.089,0:41:57.530
in essence it seems to me the new

0:41:54.619,0:42:02.000
narrative the negative one is as much

0:41:57.530,0:42:04.250
infected by romanticism as the old at

0:42:02.000,0:42:07.180
its heart lies a belief in the

0:42:04.250,0:42:09.470
desirability of the separation and

0:42:07.180,0:42:13.250
distinctiveness of adulthood and

0:42:09.470,0:42:15.740
childhood this suggests to me that the

0:42:13.250,0:42:19.099
power of the narratives as much if not

0:42:15.740,0:42:22.099
more to do with adulthood as it does

0:42:19.099,0:42:25.760
with childhood I don't want to explore

0:42:22.099,0:42:29.030
this little further a few years ago I

0:42:25.760,0:42:31.070
spent some time on an assessment panel

0:42:29.030,0:42:32.990
set up by the then department of

0:42:31.070,0:42:35.720
children schools and families by PI had

0:42:32.990,0:42:37.790
balls to look at the impact of the

0:42:35.720,0:42:40.730
commercial world on children's

0:42:37.790,0:42:43.339
well-being and we were asked to compare

0:42:40.730,0:42:46.099
the present with the past over the past

0:42:43.339,0:42:47.450
50 years I was there as a historian was

0:42:46.099,0:42:50.329
supposed to know that the answer to that

0:42:47.450,0:42:52.250
and we are urged to look for positive

0:42:50.329,0:42:57.050
benefits of the commercial world as well

0:42:52.250,0:42:59.060
as negative ones but of course the panel

0:42:57.050,0:43:02.210
had been set up precisely because of

0:42:59.060,0:43:05.660
concern about the negative impact the

0:43:02.210,0:43:08.650
commercial world and what part of the

0:43:05.660,0:43:12.589
world I kept asking myself is not now

0:43:08.650,0:43:15.650
commercial is conceived of as an adult

0:43:12.589,0:43:18.680
world adults buying and selling as

0:43:15.650,0:43:20.990
equals but posed the commercial world

0:43:18.680,0:43:22.839
against children and you are likely to

0:43:20.990,0:43:25.040
think of advertisers and marketers

0:43:22.839,0:43:27.859
manipulating children's innocent and

0:43:25.040,0:43:30.230
naive minds children need to be

0:43:27.859,0:43:32.000
protected against it if we think of

0:43:30.230,0:43:34.130
children as obese if we think of them

0:43:32.000,0:43:36.140
constantly searching inappropriate parts

0:43:34.130,0:43:38.720
of the internet if we think of them was

0:43:36.140,0:43:41.150
prematurely sexualized if were bothered

0:43:38.720,0:43:42.390
by pester power the commercial world

0:43:41.150,0:43:45.660
surely has much to

0:43:42.390,0:43:47.640
answer children we might say have a

0:43:45.660,0:43:50.309
right to a life without any of these

0:43:47.640,0:43:54.349
things children and I think it's a very

0:43:50.309,0:43:59.130
telling world as seen as vulnerable

0:43:54.349,0:44:00.750
adults by contrast also Abby's also

0:43:59.130,0:44:03.839
searching inappropriate parts of the

0:44:00.750,0:44:06.539
internet the whole world sexualized and

0:44:03.839,0:44:08.880
arata sized their insatiable desire for

0:44:06.539,0:44:11.549
material goods what makes the world go

0:44:08.880,0:44:15.990
round adults can survive without

0:44:11.549,0:44:18.180
protection we probably don't much like

0:44:15.990,0:44:21.450
this adult life where perhaps rather

0:44:18.180,0:44:24.450
ashamed of it but at least we think we

0:44:21.450,0:44:29.730
can spare children from it life is

0:44:24.450,0:44:32.069
downhill we often say that childhood has

0:44:29.730,0:44:36.839
been shortened that children go up too

0:44:32.069,0:44:41.190
quickly to historian this looks nonsense

0:44:36.839,0:44:44.910
on the contrary it's been extended it

0:44:41.190,0:44:47.400
lasts officially now up to 18 but I

0:44:44.910,0:44:49.440
think you would have found very few

0:44:47.400,0:44:53.609
people who had thought it lasted much

0:44:49.440,0:44:57.779
beyond 10 or perhaps 12 in the 18th

0:44:53.609,0:44:59.880
century and one sign of the lengthening

0:44:57.779,0:45:03.000
of childhood is the shift in the cash

0:44:59.880,0:45:05.880
flow until roughly the mid-twentieth

0:45:03.000,0:45:08.190
century children typically kept up their

0:45:05.880,0:45:11.819
earnings to their mothers who gave them

0:45:08.190,0:45:16.980
back something for spends cash flowed

0:45:11.819,0:45:18.269
from children to parents would that was

0:45:16.980,0:45:19.400
still the case some of you may be

0:45:18.269,0:45:23.190
thinking

0:45:19.400,0:45:26.280
as many of us know to our cost cash now

0:45:23.190,0:45:28.770
flows the other way from parents to

0:45:26.280,0:45:32.160
children and there seems no age at which

0:45:28.770,0:45:34.590
it will or should end if one sign of

0:45:32.160,0:45:37.500
being an adult is to be financially

0:45:34.590,0:45:41.750
independent then children in their 20s

0:45:37.500,0:45:44.820
and 30s have yet to attain that status

0:45:41.750,0:45:46.830
but if childhood has been extended it

0:45:44.820,0:45:49.800
has also been and this will sound a

0:45:46.830,0:45:51.750
contradiction shortened we constantly

0:45:49.800,0:45:54.450
hear of children doing things at an age

0:45:51.750,0:45:57.060
much younger than adults now in their

0:45:54.450,0:45:58.890
middle age ever did children today may

0:45:57.060,0:46:01.740
not be able to cross a road on their own

0:45:58.890,0:46:04.650
but they're integrated into a world of

0:46:01.740,0:46:08.220
social media fashion and celebrity in

0:46:04.650,0:46:10.260
ways older people were not what has

0:46:08.220,0:46:12.480
happened is that the boundary fences

0:46:10.260,0:46:14.430
between childhood and adulthood those

0:46:12.480,0:46:17.150
which postman was so worried about

0:46:14.430,0:46:19.380
coming down having deep broken down

0:46:17.150,0:46:22.970
so-called adults behave like children

0:46:19.380,0:46:26.280
and Beth children behave like adults and

0:46:22.970,0:46:28.110
if we ask why this has happened one

0:46:26.280,0:46:33.060
answer I think is that the prospect of

0:46:28.110,0:46:36.300
adulthood is pretty bleak if you find

0:46:33.060,0:46:39.180
work it differed enough then adulthood

0:46:36.300,0:46:42.330
means work and we've learned in the last

0:46:39.180,0:46:47.310
quarter century of it so that work means

0:46:42.330,0:46:50.640
stress for many work means well life

0:46:47.310,0:46:54.210
means paid work plus unpaid child care a

0:46:50.640,0:46:57.990
recipe for even more stress I've heard

0:46:54.210,0:47:02.520
many people say i had an idyllic

0:46:57.990,0:47:06.300
childhood i never heard anyone say they

0:47:02.520,0:47:08.990
are enjoying an idyllic adulthood of

0:47:06.300,0:47:12.510
course the dilek childhoods a

0:47:08.990,0:47:15.180
constructions made by adults they're

0:47:12.510,0:47:19.770
actually pointers to see to how we see

0:47:15.180,0:47:21.390
the life course narratives make sense of

0:47:19.770,0:47:24.630
the world but they do not necessarily

0:47:21.390,0:47:27.480
reflect the world as it is the

0:47:24.630,0:47:30.210
narratives I've considered are extremely

0:47:27.480,0:47:32.300
powerful in effect mindsets

0:47:30.210,0:47:35.430
that can incorporate into the story

0:47:32.300,0:47:37.740
anything that's thrown at them huge

0:47:35.430,0:47:39.930
number of adults in 21st century of

0:47:37.740,0:47:43.410
Britain have bought into the negative

0:47:39.930,0:47:46.230
narrative and internalized it clinging

0:47:43.410,0:47:49.530
onto a romantic and idealized view of

0:47:46.230,0:47:51.540
childhood if there are lessons to learn

0:47:49.530,0:47:54.060
I think they come from the Scandinavian

0:47:51.540,0:47:59.430
countries which no one's surprise do

0:47:54.060,0:48:00.510
well in the UNICEF surveys why first it

0:47:59.430,0:48:03.470
has something to do with greater

0:48:00.510,0:48:07.109
equality if you ask why Britain came

0:48:03.470,0:48:09.000
21st in the 2007 it's worth looking at

0:48:07.109,0:48:13.710
the country which came 20th which was

0:48:09.000,0:48:16.320
the United States the US and Britain are

0:48:13.710,0:48:19.220
on almost every count among the two most

0:48:16.320,0:48:22.410
unequal societies in the developed world

0:48:19.220,0:48:24.390
inequality feeds social exclusion and

0:48:22.410,0:48:27.270
damages children's sense of their

0:48:24.390,0:48:29.849
well-being and is not only the poor who

0:48:27.270,0:48:32.369
suffer from this parents are all too

0:48:29.849,0:48:35.099
we're aware of how their children's

0:48:32.369,0:48:37.200
future is dependent on school success

0:48:35.099,0:48:40.440
and of course convey this to their

0:48:37.200,0:48:43.980
children we want our children to be

0:48:40.440,0:48:48.359
happy perhaps even more we want them to

0:48:43.980,0:48:51.359
achieve but second besides being less

0:48:48.359,0:48:53.280
unequal scandinavia seems to me has a

0:48:51.359,0:48:56.430
rather different view of children than

0:48:53.280,0:49:00.690
in britain in britain children are seen

0:48:56.430,0:49:03.240
as vulnerable basically deficient in the

0:49:00.690,0:49:05.520
qualities and attitudes that would

0:49:03.240,0:49:07.820
enable them to survive in the world

0:49:05.520,0:49:12.330
without adult supervision and

0:49:07.820,0:49:14.730
helicoptering parents in scandinavia the

0:49:12.330,0:49:18.480
attitude is more that children are

0:49:14.730,0:49:23.540
basically competent and could be trusted

0:49:18.480,0:49:26.790
to be sensible encouraging competence

0:49:23.540,0:49:30.510
sounds rather unexcited aim for

0:49:26.790,0:49:32.450
childhood it is at the opposite pole to

0:49:30.510,0:49:35.609
the romantic conception of child

0:49:32.450,0:49:38.730
childhood and I think that would be all

0:49:35.609,0:49:42.130
to the good it might even mean that the

0:49:38.730,0:49:45.819
issue of childhood became less fruit

0:49:42.130,0:49:48.450
discussions of it less emotional we

0:49:45.819,0:49:53.849
might be able to change the narrative or

0:49:48.450,0:49:53.849
even do without one thank