1.2: A Historical Perspective

"Clarke Family History" by brianna.lehman is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

A Historical Perspective

Throughout history, children have been seen as property of their families… And their families were free to do with the child as they pleased. From Bible times on there are examples of cultures practicing infanticide, killing infants and young children for various reasons. Some cultures killed off the weaker infants and children to preserve a stronger lineage; natural selection of only the strongest survived. Other cultures gave their children to appease the gods, limit family size, ensure financial security for the remaining family members, or to save social grace after unexpected out-of-wedlock pregnancies.

Many families throughout history have found themselves so poor, they were unable to care for their children. In the 1600s, in England, able-bodied poor were forced to work, those unable to work were provided aid by the state, and orphaned or abandoned children were either provided for by the state or signed over to guardians who often used them as slaves. In other cultures, children were often cared for by their community. Some children were absorbed into homes of relatives or friends, others became a shared responsibility of the community, while others were adopted or sent into servitude. How these children were treated depended largely upon the cultural practices in which they were raised.

"Parents Cerebral Palsy - Children both NO C.P. * Spring 1978" by Whiskeygonebad is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Cultural Differences

Parents have generally always been expected to teach their children socially appropriate behavior. This, too, is dictated by the cultural beliefs of what is appropriate. Regardless of culture, parents are expected to raise their children with proper religious training, to be morally sound and industrious members who contribute to the community. In some cultures, disobedience to the parents can be fatal. In other cultures it is seemingly overlooked.

In the United States, we are just now beginning to question the validity of spanking children. In some European cultures, this is not even considered as an option and hasn’t been for many generations. Sweden was the first country to totally outlaw spanking, even by parents, in the early 1970s. Many researchers question the validity of spanking, and maintain that it teaches fear and intimidation rather than good behavior.

Case Study

The year was 1972. Eight-year-old Debbie was a second grader in a small, rural elementary school in a small town in California. Debbie liked her school, her teachers and everyone who worked at the school. On this particular day, Debbie sat in the school office of her elementary school. She was not feeling well and was waiting for her mother to come take her home. While she sat in a chair, watching the goings-on of the busy school office, a teacher brought in a boy from the fourth-grade class. This boy was known to often cause trouble; his frequent misbehavior was legendary across the school. The teacher explained to the school secretary what the boy had done this time, and the secretary escorted him into the principal’s office. As the door opened, Debbie had a front-row view. The principal, whom Debbie knew as a very nice man, sat at his desk. Behind him, hanging on the wall, was a two-foot-long wooden paddle. It was painted in the school’s colors and read “The Board of Education”. The secretary led the boy in, told the principal that the boy’s parents had approved for the principal to use “The Board”, and then closed the door. Soon, Debbie heard a loud smack, and then a boy whimpering. After a few minutes, the door opened and the boy came out; his face was very red, and his eyes were puffy and wet, looking as though he had been crying. The principal told the secretary that the boy could wash his face and return to class… that he wouldn’t need to come back for that again. Debbie stared in awe at what was happening. She had never heard of anyone misbehaving so badly at school that the principal had to use the Board of Education!

This scenario occurred during an era when many schools were allowed to use corporal punishment. (This type of discipline is no longer allowed in California; Corporal Punishment in public schools was outlawed in California in 1986.) “In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that school corporal punishment is constitutional, leaving states to decide whether to allow it or not. Nineteen U.S. states currently allow public school personnel to use corporal punishment to discipline children from the time they start preschool until they graduate 12th grade; these states are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.” (Center for Effective Discipline, 2015).