With no laws to protect children, this meant they had few rights and were badly treated. Seen as simply the property of their parents, many children were abandoned, abused and even bought and sold. Thought to be born evil, children needed to be corrected, punished and made to become good citizens.
What was life like for a child in the Victorian era?
Life for Victorian children was very different from our lives today. Children in rich households had toys to play with and did not have to work, but children in poor households often had to work long hours in difficult, dangerous jobs. They didn’t have toys to play with but sometimes made their own.
What was the attitude towards childhood in the Victorian age?
Earlier generations of children had been exposed to the hardships and responsibilities of adult life but a new shift in attitude created an expectation that a child’s life should be one of innocence and dependence. This 19th shift in attitude was due in part to the industrialization and urbanization of England.
How were Victorian children expected to behave?
Victorian children would be made to go to work at a very young age. As unbelievable as it sounds, sometimes even 4 or 5 years old. Actually this was not unique only to the Victorian age, children had been expected to work for centuries before this. They worked very hard and for long hours every day.
How did Victorian parents punish their kids?
Parents Used Corporal Punishment
Corporal punishment was the norm in Victorian times, and children could expect to get a beating if they did even minimally naughty things.
What issues did children have in the Victorian period?
Children as young as seven years old could be found working fourteen hours a day in the region’s mills. Being small and nimble, they were given dangerous jobs such as climbing underneath moving machinery to remove any cotton pieces that had fallen below – this role was called being a ‘scavenger’.
How were children viewed in the 1800s?
During this time, they argue, people began to define children as inherently different from adults: as impressionable, unformed beings who require much protection and attention from adult caretakers, who are in turn expected to regard youngsters with deep affection and nostalgia.
How were children treated in the past?
Even if they survived life was hard for children. Most did not go to school. Instead, from an early age, they had to help the family by doing some work. Both parents and teachers were very strict and beating naughty children was normal.
What changed in Victorian Britain for children?
In early Victorian Britain most poor children did not attend school, so they grew up unable to read or write. Some went to free charity schools and Sunday schools, which were run by churches. In 1844 Parliament passed a law stating that children working in factories must be given six half-days of schooling every week.
How much did a Victorian child get paid?
In 1830, a child working in a cotton mill earned just one tenth of an adult’s wages. Most factory owners and businessmen were very happy to employ children as they did not have to pay them very much, so they could make more profit. Click here to find out more about Victorian jobs!
What did poor Victorian children do for fun?
Older boys often played football, cricket and tag whilst girls would often play hopscotch and jump rope. Young boys usually played marbles while young girls had skipping ropes and dolls to play with. The poorest children often made their own toys out of anything they could find.
What was Victorian parenting like?
Victorian parents didn’t shy away from the word “no”, and they taught their children the difference between right and wrong, true and false. Parents were encouraged not to spoil them or give in to them.
How were kids punished in the 1800s?
Punishments in Tudor schools were still harsh. Boys were hit with a bundle of birch rods on their bare backside. Furthermore in Britain in the 19th century children were hit at work. In the early 19th century in textile mills, children who were lazy were hit with leather straps.
What was the worst Victorian punishment?
The penalty for the most serious crimes would be death by hanging, sometimes in public. However, during the Victorian period this became a less popular form of punishment, especially for smaller crimes, and more people were transported abroad (sometimes all the way to Australia!) or sent to prison instead.
How were children disciplined in the 1800’s?
They were strict on behavior and posture, and if you had trouble following the directions given then you would have a harsh consequence. When you’re teaching a child to act the right way. So if they do something wrong they have to have a consequence to learn there lesson so they don’t do it again.
What jobs did Victorian kids have?
What other jobs did children do in Victorian times?
- Servant to a rich family.
- Chimney sweep.
- Work in the coal mines.
- Washing laundry.
- Crossing sweeper (swept in front of rich people walking in the street)
- Making and selling matches.
- Pottery making.
- Working at the shipyard.
What did kids do on a daily basis in the 1800s?
Life in the 1800s
Before the Victorian era, children as young as 6 or 8 years old might work in a mill or factory, they might run errands and make deliveries for a store keeper, they may be apprenticed to a skilled craftsman or woman, or they could be hired out as a servant.
What life was like for kids in 1800’s?
The lives of all children in 1800 were mundane and difficult due to family and societal expectations for labor, schooling, and maturity. Gender, social status, and the region in which a child lived determined how much schooling a child would receive and where and how they would get it.
What chores did kids do in the 1800s?
Some chores might include tending tobacco, looking after younger brothers and sisters, and caring for the farm animals. Because there were no public schools in Virginia until the 1800s, children often learned everything they needed to know at home.
What problems did child workers face?
Miserable working conditions including crowded and unclean factories, a lack of safety codes and long hours were the norm. Children could be paid less and were less likely to organize into unions. Working children were typically unable to attend school, creating a cycle of poverty that was difficult to break.
What was a peasant child’s life like?
Peasant children at this age stayed at home and continued to learn and develop domestic skills and husbandry. Urban children moved out of their homes and into the homes of their employer, or master (depending on their future roles as servants or apprentices).