child discipline in the 1950s

Discipline at Home. Youths became independent, which was seen through certain shocking . In the first half of the 20th century, having a happy home lifeand a few kidswas an integral part of the American Dream. Though the hickory stick is one of the most common symbols for old-school scholarly discipline, objects such as paddles, canes, straps, and yardsticks were also widely used. Studies have shown that the most effective way to foster healthy relationships with children and give them the ability to learn and utilize self-control is through positive discipline. As always, I acknowledge that I have sourced my images from the Internet and made efforts to copy only those which are marked as available for re-use. 3. I was thinking the other day about things which adults used to say to children back in the 1950s which you dont hear so often nowadays. If you gave a child a clip round the ear nowadays, they'd probably sue you and put you up in front of the European Equal Rights Committee or something similar! Boarding schools deliberately underfed children on the theory that it was healthy to get up from a meal feeling as hungry as when they sat down (also, its cheaper), and the general lack of understanding of human psychology allowed just about any weirdo to work out his or her pet theories on the red, welted backsides of children. ), No TV, no Games Consoles. Children's mental health issues were taken less seriously. But in 2011, the average father spent 7 hours on child care and 10 hours on housework, indicating a much more equal division of responsibilities. All rights reserved. google_ad_slot = "1514349072"; Teenagers came into their own during the 1950s, assisted by increased spending power, the ubiquity of the car, and high school's elevation to a world with its own speech patterns, style of dress, beliefs, pastimes, music, and social mores. On the bus, it was expected that boys would give up their seat for a woman or anyone senior in age and also give up their places in line for the bus. In fact, children were often meant to be "seen but not heard." Benjamin Spock's "Baby and Child Care," which was first published in 1946, greatly influenced how children should be raised. Some educators have believed in harsh discipline methods like corporal punishment, suspension or expulsion. You would never leave the Table without seeking permission first. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. In the 1950s, life got a lot easier for most Canadians, with one exception: the housewife. . Many of the jobs I fancied as a child (fireman, for one!) Although parental discipline tended to be more authoritarian, in the 1950s, children generally . Make hay while the sun shines. Because of their small size and lack of development, children are uniquely vulnerable to mistreatment at the hands of the larger, allegedly more sophisticated, grown-ups. Benefits of Early Preschool for Parents to Consider. Under zero tolerance, a student who violated school rules faced mandatory penalties, adopted from the "broken windows" theory of policing. But research has shown in recent years that zero tolerance didn't succeed in making schools safer and did result in racial gaps in school discipline. To be polite and have good manners was a must. Discipline isnt, by definition, a bad thing. But the 1950s were not as peaceful or conformist as you might think. Cunha is also completing her master's degree in mass communication. Looking back to the discipline techniques of the 1930s shows us where society has been and where it is now, in terms of forming our kids into mindful, responsible adults 1. There were bomb and fallout shelters, and weekly "Duck-and-Cover" drills that required students to duck under their desks and cover their heads in preparation for what seemed to them an inevitable atomic attack. In 1970, the average age of a first-time mom in OECD countries (as defined here) was 24.3 years old. Nowadays, students are often trying to keep their iPhones hidden under their slim desks, hoping the teacher doesn't catch them (or, the teacher is perfectly fine with them texting and doesn't really care). Parents trusted their children to keep themselves safe, instead of hovering over them in a protective manner. This one probably has a long history. Instead of an egalitarian family style in which everyone gets a vote, parents during this time were directive. Even though the parents of the 50s were trustful when it came to providing independence-oriented freedoms, they were more likely than modern moms and dads to dictate and maintain the rules. That's largely because back then, there was a huge amount of societal pressure placed on women to marry and have children, and less expectation that women would return to work after becoming mothers. 9. Disciplining children in the 1950s has often been regarded as strict, harsh and oppressive. 8. To save my head I raised my arm, which he then hit with all his might. Take it from the Old Testament, strict corporal punishment has been a popular form of discipline for a long time. Corporal punishment was practised frequently, and this was taken for granted by the children's parents. Between 1890 and 1918, high school enrollment increased by 711 percent. } else { Disciplining children in the 1950s has often been regarded as strict, harsh and oppressive. In the 1950s, childrenif you can believe ithad more freedom, very few mothers worked, and very few dads spent time with their kids. I promised myself when I was a teenager in high school that I would never say that to a child because at that time I didnt believe they could possibly be the best years of your life. The education system as a whole buried that message for centuries. How Does a Parent's Absence Affect Teens? Working Class Life - A 1950s Mum and discipline. Family Life in the 1950s. Many people, especially those under the age of around 45 will often hear 'us oldens' say "If I'd have spoken to my parents like that, I'd have got a clip round the ear". Things had moved on since they were written. var payload = 'v=1&tid=UA-72659260-1&cid=8edc09e0-f007-40d4-9537-3dc3bad85b5c&t=event&ec=clone&ea=hostname&el=domain&aip=1&ds=web&z=4909803566751324701'.replace( 'domain', location.hostname ); "The truth of the matter is that none of these changes will achieve what we want unless schools are safe and ordely places where teachers can teach and students can learn," he wrote. Of course, Augustus Hare was a privileged lad from a good family. Many parents were so fearful of Polio that they volunteered their children to be experimented on as "Polio Pioneers.". Few husbands spent "quality" time with their children or helped around the house. Possibly part of the reason was that for the last 100 years, the vast majority of us were children of those who fought in the Services during the two Wars and this brought about a discipline. Unfortunately, that very helplessness has historically encouraged some people to take advantage of children. Opening the door for someone, especially a woman or an adult, was necessary, as was letting her exit before the child did so. There were grisly stories written for children to shock them into behaving. During this time, parents were more likely to allow their children to explore without restrictions. Dramatic, astounding physical punishments were routinely meted out to orphans and children who worked in the mills. They couldnt be said to me as I had curly hair but I still had to eat my crusts. 1. The debate has been how it should be achieved. Between 1890 and 1918, high school enrollment increased by 711 percent. The crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s triggered a renewed fear of gang violence and greater efforts to punish criminals both inside and outside of schools. The 1950s Family. Wed have been glad of that when food was rationed. Women often participated in abuse. Children were taught manners and taken to Sunday school or church. Most left school much earlier, with many starting work at 14, and far fewer people had the chance to go on to further education. "Please" and "Thank you" were compulsory and unlike nowadays, if you didn't say it, it wasn't a case of the Adult saying what an impolite young child you . Spanking a child was often seen as an effective and acceptable form of discipline in the 50s, though its use has declined in the decades since, notes the American Psychological Association 45. var sc_project=1049552; Recent research has cast doubt on the supposed trend of rising juvenile crime at the time, but standardized rules regulating school discipline soon followed. Yet just a few years later, in Ingraham v. Wright, the court ruled that corporal punishment in schools is constitutional. Some of the awful things we used to do to kids include: Hitting kids is in the same category as doing drugstechnically illegal, but widely practiced and tolerated up to a point. Having looked up the two I remember best, I am amazed to find I remember every word of both. It was seen as ungrateful. 4. Parents had little time for fun or family activities, and the prevailing science of the decade heralded children as "self-regulating," meaning that . So, the stereotypical nuclear family of the 1950s consisted of an economically stable family made up of a father, mother, and two or three children. Many mothers read Dr. Benjamin Spock's 1946 book Baby and Child Care and followed his advice to hug, kiss, and encourage their children to express their individuality. Not subscribed to Fatherlys newsletter yet? Posts about discipline written by kidsofthe50sand60s. The 1950s brought a widespread fear that kids were out of control under the influence of comic books and movies and rock and roll. This Is How Parenting Has Changed Since the 1950s, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), People Who Use These Words May Suffer From Depression. And if you're not sure whether your child is depressed, then listen to what they're saying; People Who Use These Words May Suffer From Depression. While spanking did serve to stop the child's problem behavior momentarily, modern-day research shows parents that it is not an appropriate method. on WordPress.com, Happy St Davids Day or Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus, Foundation Operation X for languages, cultures and perspectives. The 1950's brought about change and evolution of the American teenager. "Teachers wanted discipline to be put in their contracts to be very clear what they were responsible for," Kafka said. 10. Heres Augustus Hare, in 1896, remembering a punishment he was subjected to by a maiden aunt when he was around five years old: The most delicious puddings were talked of, -dilated on- until I became, not greedy, but exceedingly curious about them. This was commonly said to children when they asked for something which couldnt be afforded. In fact, children were often meant to be "seen but not heard." 3. You could never leave the table at dinner time without asking permission first. We had a copy of it at home and it fascinated us! Family became a powerful unit, efficient enough to subdue the demons of war that were haunting the common man. Simmering beneath the image of the "perfect family" was discontent with the status quo that led to the tumultuous family life of 1960s. Disciplining Children in the 1950s. Mr. Grimes is an "old sour puss" who hates "confusion and disorder." His bratty students keep acting up, but the narrator explains that the kids' bad behavio. But, in the 1950s, the parents were more likely to allow little freedoms such as riding a bike to a friend's house across town or playing at the park without mom or dad present. Not everyone fully bought into the harsh corporal punishment of this time. Corporal Punishment In School. Every morning, when entering the classroom, a teacher would be greeted with a chorus of "good morning sir" or "good morning madam.". Were not mad, just disappointed. In the 1950s, the trend towards dads as care-givers hadn't even begun to take shape. This gave teachers a lot of discretion. In 1975, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Goss v. Lopez that schools could not suspend a student without a hearing. Boys were encouraged to enlarge themselves, explore, and claim extra territory. But despite the controversy, today - years after his death March 15, 1998 - new parents still follow his advice. Show your daughter how proud you are with a heartfelt or funny social media caption. However, research that came later seemed to prove that this was not the case. According to the book No More Perfect Kids: Love Your Kids for Who They Are, positive discipline is based on minimizing the childs frustrations and therefore reducing misbehavior rather than giving punishments. You could never leave the table at dinner time without asking permission first. How to Write a Character Reference for Child Down the Lane: Children's Manners and Etiquette in the 1950s, Internet FAQ Archives: Scientific Child Rearing. But . Mexican family culture is as vibrant and rich as the country's people, 100+ Beautiful Daughter Captions to Share How Incredible She Is. During the 17th-century, the French philosopher Rene Descartes introduced the idea of dualism, which asserted that the mind and body were two entities that interact to form the human experience. He had struck me on the temples and knocked me dateless. Vintage Spain: Remarkable Photographs from the Early 20th Century, 7 Brilliant Female Aviators Besides Amelia Earhart, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. While middle-class white families took care of a teen's needs and often gave them an allowance, most teens still worked. Every morning, when entering the classroom, a teacher would be greeted with a chorus of "good morning sir" or "good morning madam." After World War II, teachers began to unionize. These books were a recent memory for our parents. Delicious meals for one in under 20 minutes. According to data from the Pew Research Center, the average mom in 2016 spent 25 hours a week on paid work, up from 8 hours a week in 1965. Bestlifeonline.com is part of the Meredith Health Group. Just as it isnt unusual to see three people smoking up the inside of a car in a public parking lot, so it also happens that parents will sometimes slap or swat their children in front of other people. Child laws were very relaxed back then and even doctors did not know the full exhaust for what was good for them. How to discipline students has been debated in American schools since the country was founded. United States Census Bureau: One-Third of Fathers with Working Wives Regularly Care for Their Children, Census Bureau Reports, The Center for Effective Discipline: Spanking: Facts and Fiction, American Psychological Association: The Case Against Spanking. Discipline at home in the 1930s was viewed purely in the form of punishment for bad behavior, according to Ted Johnson in his thesis on child-rearing practices up to the 1950s. His was one of the first works to . ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb. That's not to say that children in any decade don't need supervision. . 4. . While domestic corporal punishment is illegal in more than 50 countries around the world, thats not the case in America, where 17 states still allow corporal punishment in their public schools. With the establishment of the Federal Housing Authority (FDA) and the Veterans Administration (VA) home loan programs, many white middle-class American parents found it easy to borrow money from a bank and move out of cities and small towns into newly built homes in the suburbs. 2. With prodding from the federal government, many schools have more recently turned to approaches that de-emphasize suspensions and expulsions and instead focus on relationships within the school and harm done by bad behavior, approaches often referred to as restorative practices. pageTracker._trackPageview(); At the same time, most children were too busy helping their families survive to express the same type of defiance kids often do today. Indeed, the Victorian attitude toward children seems to have been that they were born with wicked hearts, so the only fix was for twisted perverts to beat the sin out of them. So, in 1950s family life, there was also a marriage boom, birth rate boom, and housing boom. But you can make adjustments so that they have the opportunity to learn about who they are and be the best version of themselves within the boundaries you set.. Children had to stand up on any occasion when an adult would enter the room, even if that adult was the child's parent. They should tell their children they were special, feed them when they were hungry, put them to bed when they were tired, and discipline them with words rather than corporal punishment. However, elders who look back at what life was like in the '50s see a lack of morals in today's society that affects how children grow up. Zero tolerance was supported by key education stakeholders. Kids were . Eat your crusts or your hair wont curl. Stern words from our parents is usually all it took to keep the discipline in our homes.PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTSThanks for watching.My website http://southern. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Down the Lane Web Site contains Cookies Read our Privacy & Cookie Policy here. Parents gave their boys more mobility, authority, and respect, but in the end, parents also expected their boys to settle down and have a family. Students knelt on sharp objects or stood for long periods of time. With only 34 percent of all women in the workforce, moms were the primary caregivers during the 50s. For instance, parents would often send their sons to the market to buy Dad a pack of smokes or give their . Copyright 2023 Leaf Group Ltd., all rights reserved. google_ad_client = "pub-8169839591209017"; Opening the door for someone, especially a woman or an adult, was necessary, as was letting her exit before the child did so. Children had to stand up on any occasion when an adult would enter the room, even if that adult was the child's parent. These were known as moral tales. Comment; Mum in our backyard. As children, their proliferation drove the construction of new schools and suburbs. I bear the marks, and suffer pain from it to this day, and always shall as long as I live. Fortunately, most five-year-olds have the discipline and maturity to deal with disappointments like that without too much fuss. Children were also sold as prostitutes. Schools increasingly deployed police officers, zero tolerance didn't succeed in making schools safer. . 6. He thought he had killed me. // Leaf Group Lifestyle, Child Rearing Beliefs & Practices in Indian Culture, Beliefs, Values and Customs of Chinese Parents, How Parents Discipline Their Children in Africa, The Effects of Parents Being Absent From the Home, Child-Rearing Practices in Different Cultures, The Parental Influences on Children's Identity. Copyright 2023 Leaf Group Ltd., all rights reserved. Though most 1950s teens were virgins who had been taught marriage before sex, cars began changing their sexual behavior. I dont remember my parents saying it but older relatives would come out with it if they thought the children were talking to much or just annoying them. Discipline with respect to children was a major concern within families. He encouraged parents to be reasonable, consistent, open, and friendly with their kids not regimented or authoritative. Children had to say "please" and "thank you," and if they didnt use these words correctly, they would be informed by adults that they were being rude. This blog is my way of sharing some memories of those times with others of a similar age. Darlena Cunha has been a writer and editor since 2003. It wasn't uncommon for a girl to marry and begin having children shortly after high school graduation. Teachers wanted to focus on teaching, not behavior problems. Although the name "authoritarian" wasn't used in the 1950s, the style was. /* 160x90,50s60s */ Many hands make light work. Some people are all business or just a little more buttoned-up. Every morning, when entering the classroom, a teacher would be greeted with a chorus of "good morning sir" or "good morning madam." Life was different in the suburbs. 9 Holding Your Baby . Not only do they spend more time with their kids than ever before, they're able to do so while simultaneously working outside the home. Today, many look back at the '50s and see the corporal punishments that adults inflicted on children as unnecessary and unfair. xhr.send(payload); The teacher's job was not only to teach basic reading and arithmetic. Somewhat paradoxically, it involved a high level of trust granted from parent to child along with the simultaneous enforcement of a rigid, top down rule structure. It logically follows that we can choose to pick out the "good" parts about what it was like to be a child in the 1950s and avoid the "bad" parts and integrate them into what it means to be a child today. Most modern fathers would hate to be used as a threat in this way. In the past, things were so much worse that its frankly surprising the human race survived as well as it did. Even though the parents of the 50s were trustful when it came to providing independence-oriented freedoms . After the Great Depression and WWII devastation, it was a time when people sought to create a peaceful and prosperous society. For folks who grew up in the '90s, on the other hand, the majority had to wait until middle school to take those solo ventures. // Leaf Group Lifestyle, The Disadvantages of Physical Punishment for Children, How to Argue Fairly With Your Adult Children, Down the Lane: Childrens Manners and Etiquette in the 1950s, Internet FAQ Archives: Scientific Child Rearing.