Childhood

Childhood History

  • 550 BCE

    Sexual abuse on children in ancient times

    Sexual abuse on children in ancient times
    In ancient rome or greece it was common for adults to abuse on other children to project their sexual fantasies or desires. Older men went to "boy brothels" to satisfy their sexual needs, and children from all different social classes experienced this.
  • 500 BCE

    Child sale in babylonian times

    Child sale in babylonian times
    As described by the author, one of the most brutal forms of abandonment was child sale, which was legal in ancient babylon. This happened sporadically over history.
  • 367 BCE

    The use of wet-nurses to replace mothers started early in history

    The use of wet-nurses to replace mothers started early in history
    Parents would often hire nurses to take care of the child so the mother did not have to. Most people had wet nurses, or children were also placed in nursery homes. Very few were actually raised by their mothers. The author mentions that high class people end up hating their mothers, because they let them grow with lower class people.This remained until the nineteenth century.
  • 288 BCE

    Infanticide before the common era

    Infanticide before the common era
    In ancient rome and greece, infanticide was common. The babies who didn´t meet certain criteria, were often killed. There was an inbalance of males over females because females were valued very little, as men always had the power. Infanticide was common until the middle ages. Child sacrifice to the gods was common in egypt, the irish and other ancient cultures
  • 374

    Prohibition of Infanticide happened more than 600 years later

    Prohibition of Infanticide happened more than 600 years later
    Infanticide was prohibited in 374 A.D, whereas, the use of this law was to protect the parents soul, and not the child, since this law was enforced by the church.
  • 809

    Infanticide still ocurred in the middle ages

    Infanticide still ocurred in the middle ages
    Even though it's denied by historians, the author describes that child death ratios stil increased, and by no surprise, girls died far more times than boys.The infanticide law existed, though it was rarely enforced.
  • 1300

    Parents raising children in the fourteenth century

    many times the mother was projected on the child, so we would often see odd practices like adults licking and sucking the child´s intimate parts, in order to satisfy the mother's projection on the child.
  • 1400

    Parents raising their children in the fifteenth century

    Parents raising their children in the fifteenth century
    As described by the author, parents would lack empathy towards their kids, they would indeed sometimes show them some acts of love, but most of the time they treated their children like complete strangers because of their lack of maturity as parents. They couldn´t stop projecting themselves on their children.
  • 1405

    Sexually abusing children stoppe in the fifteenth century

    Sexually abusing children stoppe in the fifteenth century
    By this time some moralists decided that this was wrong and started a movement against sexually abusing children and it spreaded until the seventeenth century were it took a twist and parents punished their children for touching their own genitals.
  • 1575

    The severe abuse caused physical and mental retardation on children

    The severe abuse caused physical and mental retardation on children
    As described by the author, not only did the poor pareting, but the physical abuse and the neglect caused children to be severelly underdeveloped when they grew. An example is set, a princess named anne of denmark only walked after 108 months (9 years old)
  • The double image effect on children of the seventeenth century

    The double image effect on children of the seventeenth century
    As the author describes, parenting, overall in the higher classes led to children havin extremely rare childhoods. Parents had massive projection of children, as even though they were toddler, they projected them as adults. That led to them being sexualized at a young age. Double imaging led to practices like circumsicion, but also the believes in magic led to this acts.
  • Child being brutaly battered was common

    Child being brutaly battered was common
    If the child pooped itself or peed itself it was common for the child to be battered with many devices like shovels, canes, iron and wooden rods, bundles of sticks. This would be approved by all people but this was a form of physically abusing children.
  • Children were swaddled in the seventeenth century

    Children were swaddled in the seventeenth century
    Children often suffered from swaddling, wich was the limitation of their movement with the use of really tight ropes. This would distort their bones, and cause a number of medical issues, and it caused what parents wanted, for their child to be submissive and quiet. This was a form of traditional child abuse. Afterwards they grew, a variety of restraints was used on them.
  • Parents raising their children in the past and the influence of Religion

    Parents raising their children in the past and the influence of Religion
    Children in the past suffered from many projections of adults, so often they were in danger. Personal beliefs in devils and creatures, would often be projected on the child, so if it cried because it had a need it meant it was "possesed", and would be badly beaten to "exorcize" the demon. Pareting was very poorly done.
  • Projective care on children in the past

    Projective care on children in the past
    Poor pareting and harsh raising was evidenced during this time. Parents would let their children see public executions and corpses to raise them. Then they would try to confort the child if it was scared, but this type of care was inadeaccuate, because it projected the parents unconscious intho the child BUT in didn't solve the thing the child really needs.
  • Infanticide in the seventeeth century

    Infanticide in the seventeeth century
    At the time we would often see that children learned to soothe their parents. We see a role reversal, where the child takes care of the parent and not the other way around. Mothers would often need the child so bad, they hugged the baby too tight and the baby would end up suffocated
  • The contradiction in history: Children were punished and placed in antimasturbation devices but would still be abused by adults

    The contradiction in history: Children were punished and placed in antimasturbation devices but would still be abused by adults
    Children were punished and placed in antimasturbation devices during the eighteenth century, but servants from houses and adults would still molest them and parents would many times be aware of this molestation. This caused children terrible psychological effects on children, like nightmares and hallucinations.
  • Brutal infanticide still ocurred in the eighteenth century

    Brutal infanticide still ocurred in the eighteenth century
    Infanticide was still common in the eighteenth century. The author describes that parents would leave the children in nursing homes if they couldn´t take care of them, however this homes filled quickly, and nurses often disposed of the children by feeding them poisonous food, or exposing them to brutal coldness so they would die.
  • Parents raising children in 1739

    Parents raising children in 1739
    As the author expressed, parenting was done very poorly and it was really difficult for children. In this particular example of Nicholas, we see that adults would project their desires or anger towars the child by punishing him for no reason, but would also have a reversal reaction, by loving him at the same, and this contradictory actions would confused the child. This combined reactions would be to relief the parent´s own anxiety.
  • Child Abandonement in the eighteenth century

    Child Abandonement in the eighteenth century
    It was common for children to spend most of their lives without their parents. They would be sent to nursing homes during toddlers, and to other institution basically until they were grown up.
  • In the eighteenth century, child battering decreased

    In the eighteenth century, child battering decreased
    From 1650 to 1790 there was a decrease to child battering according to the author. But it bloomed again in the nineteenth century with parents whipping their children for their mistakes, so they were brutally abused. Then whipping was replaced with locking children for days in closets if they behaved incorrectly.
  • The replacement of religion to local beliefs in child-raising

    The replacement of religion to local beliefs in child-raising
    Religion lost importance and projections on children were replaced by local beliefs, like mythical creatures. Adults created punishing creatures to project terror on the child, in order for it to behave.
  • Parents raising their children in 1830

    Parents raising their children in 1830
    almost a 100 years later, we still poor parenting and almost no improval. In this example the author states that parents would punish badly their children to punish themselves as well, since they seed the child as a projection of themselves, so by thinking they are punishing themselves as well, they feel no guilt towards beating their children
  • Parents raising their children in 1830

    Parents raising their children in 1830
    parenting was also done very badly due to their ignorance towards accidents. Their personal belifs would exhonerate them from the guilt of their children having accidents. If the child burned itself with the stove, parents would blame it on "working on a holy day" or by thinking they´re being punished by somethig they've done in the past.
  • New raising methods: Socializing mode

    New raising methods: Socializing mode
    Parents would improve within history to raise their children better. The socializing mode diminished the adults projection on the child and the child would be actually taught instead of just being punished. This lasted from the nineteenth century to the mid-twenty.
  • The actual "Helping Mode" on raising children

    The actual "Helping Mode" on raising children
    This method began on the mitd tweentieth century, and is still developing today. It fully involves the parent and the child. Children are taught with love, and they are not struck or beaten and helping them develop properly. It is time consuming but the best method for the child to grow in a loving enviroment but also for the child to be useful and productive
  • 2019: A review on childhood history

    2019: A review on childhood history
    After reading the article, we see that being a child was almost hell in the ancient ages, over time sporadically it go worse, but eventually over time it got better, with the quality of life for children improving in a big way from the ancient history to nowadays. Knowing child history is important so we see the mistakes we've made and go in the right way about raising a child, and how a child must be treated.