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 children in the Victorian times?
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.
Did Victorians love their children?
Parents Didn’t Show Affection
Victorian parents were not known for showing affection. In fact, they believed even minimal amounts of affection would spoil a child. Victorian parents were encouraged to never kiss or hug their children, only a peck on the forehead before bed if they really couldn’t help themselves.
What was the attitude towards childhood in the Victorian age?
In the mid-18th century, childhood began to be viewed in a positive light, as a state of freedom and innocence. Professor Kimberley Reynolds explores how this new approach influenced 18th and 19th-century writers, some of whom wished they could preserve childhood indefinitely.
How did Victorian parents punish their kids?
Although most did not physically strike their children, they did resort to other forms of punishment such as locking the child in a closet, sending them to their room or having their allowance taken away.
How were children treated in Victorian schools?
The teacher would make sure that lessons were hard work, repetitive and really not much fun. Boys and girls were educated differently, girls were taught needlework and home-making skills and boys woodwork. Children were expected to work hard at school and do well at exams.
What happened to Victorian children?
Poor children who survived infancy were often put to work at an early age. In the 1830s and 40s, many children labored in textile mills and coal mines, where working conditions often proved deadly. Girls as young as five went into domestic service as nurses or maids to wealthy families.
How healthy were Victorian children?
How healthy were Victorian children? Many Londoners died from illnesses such as cholera, measles and scarlet fever. Babies in over-crowded and damp housing were the most at risk from diarrhoea and tuberculosis. Even those in rich families died because of poor medical knowledge.
What was considered rude in the Victorian era?
Never eat very fast. Never fill the mouth very full. Never open your mouth when chewing. Never make noise with the mouth or throat.
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 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.
How were children disciplined in the 1800s?
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. Furthermore, lazy children sometimes had their heads ducked in a container of water.
What was life like for girls in the Victorian era?
Victorians believed that a woman’s proper and only place was to be within a household environment. The women were expected to marry, have children, and keep a nice household. Those were the only acceptable roles for women during that era.
How Victorians punish children for poor behaviour?
Boys were usually caned on their backsides and girls were either beaten on their bare legs or across their hands. A pupil could receive a caning for a whole range of different reasons, including: rudeness, leaving a room without permission, laziness, not telling the truth and playing truant (missing school).
Were children hanged in Victorian times?
At the beginning of the century, children were punished in the same way as adults – sent to the same prisons, sometimes transported to Australia, whipped or sentenced to death. In 1814 five child criminals under the age of 14 were hanged at the Old Bailey, the youngest being only eight years old.
Did Victorian children get paid?
The average wage in the 1850s was about 15 shillings (75p) a week. Many children got just 5 shillings (25p) a week, or less. While thousands of children worked down the mine, thousands of others worked in the cotton mills.
How were Victorian girls treated?
Women’s rights were extremely limited in this era, losing ownership of their wages, all of their physical property, excluding land property, and all other cash they generated once married. When a Victorian man and woman married, the rights of the woman were legally given over to her spouse.
What time did Victorian children wake up?
Did you know… Morning lessons began at 9:00am until 12:00. Children often went home for their lunchtime meal and then returned for afternoon classes from 2pm-5pm. If pupils were unable to answer a question, they were made to sit in the corner and wear a dunces’ hat.
How were Victorian pupils punished if they misbehaved?
Victorian school punishments
Students could be caned or forced to wear a dunce hat for answering questions incorrectly. If they didn’t sit straight, a wooden back board was pressed into their back. Their fingers could be tied behind their backs in wooden finger stocks if they were caught fidgeting.
Did Victorian children go to school?
At the start of the Victorian era, very few children actually attended school. Children from rich families would be educated at home by a governess (a female teacher). At the age of ten, boys would go to public schools, such as Eton or Harrow, and girls would continue their education at home.
What age did Victorian children go to work?
Research has shown that the average age at which children started work in early 19th-century Britain was 10 years old, but that this varied widely between regions. In industrial areas, children started work on average at eight and a half years old.