4104ECHILD: Children and Childhood
Report
This report aims to identify the impact of official interventions since the beginning of the twentieth century on the experience of childhood. The report will first address child welfare, focusing on the early twentieth century from 1900 to 1945, before further progressing to multi-agency working and finally, international legislation and how this has impacted British policy towards children.
Child Welfare 1900- 1945
This section of the report will look at child welfare at the beginning of the twentieth century, which differs greatly from Modern Britain. This is emphasised significantly by the occurrence of the world wars which ‘separated many children from their families, making it difficult for them to receive the basic physical and psychological requirement for survival’ (Wyness, 2012 p.231) and the changes that occurred as a repercussion due to them.
As a result of the First World War, the 1918 Education Act was introduced. This act was a further development from the 1902 Act which impacted positively in regards primary school children having the opportunity to further their education in secondary schools (Cunningham and Morpurgo, 2006). The 1918 Education Act developed this further by increasing ‘the school-leaving age to 14′ which was further altered by the 1944 Education Act which raised the school-leaving age to ’15 [and] made secondary schooling compulsory for each child, in one of the three types of secondary school now established; the grammar school, the technical school and the secondary modern school’ (Cunningham and Morpurgo, 2006 p.195-196).
At the time of the war, people became increasingly cautious of the future of the state. Different factors of a child’s lives were under scrutiny and they became of significant concern (Cunningham and Morpurgo, 2006). Changes occurred within the health sector which can be seen through the increase in clinics and number of health visitors (Cunningham and Morpurgo, 2006 p.161).This helped ‘working-class mothers develop good patterns of care’ (Munro, 2008 p.36).
In regards to education intertwined with health, there was an introduction of the 1906 Education (Provision of Meals) Act which ‘gave permission to local authorities to feed some of their school-age children if they saw fit (a further Parliamentary Act in 1914 made this compulsory, subject to a means test)’ (Morton, 1997 cited in Foley, Roche and Tucker, 2001 p.12). Although this Act benefitted some children, based on means-tested, it can be evaluated that it was not until 1944 when an additional Education Act was introduced, which made it statutory ‘to provide school meals for all primary and secondary schoolchildren who wanted them, and milk became free for schoolchildren from 1946 onwards’ (Morton, 1997 cited in Foley, Roche and Tucker, 2001), that all children were benefitting from these changes health-wise.
Around the time of the Education Act of 1906, there was an introduction of an act which stated that children must undergo medical inspections (Cunningham and Morpurgo, 2006). This impacted positively on children as it was thought to unveil a number of health related issues and ensure that the treatment was made readily available (Cunningham and Morpurgo, 2006). The introduction of the act also impacted as the conditions at the time were also worsening, which can be seen through research which revealed ‘that between 21 and 43 percent of all working-class children fell below the poverty line. Rickets, the most obvious sign of malnutrition, was found in as many as two out of three working-class schoolchildren’ (Cunningham and Morpurgo, 2006 p.187). However, in 1917, Margaret McMillan, a historical pioneer, alongside her sister, pioneered ‘the first open-air nursery for under fives, where disadvantaged children could enjoy ‘light, air and all that is good’ (McMillan 1917 cited in Nutbrown, Clough and Selbie, 2009 p.44)’ (Nutbrown, Clough and Selbie, 2009 p.44). The establishment of the open air nursery can be seen to have impacted on the children’s health positively and helped to have eased the rickets epidemic.
In comparison to the First World War, ‘The Second World War had even more impact on the lives of children’ (Cunningham and Morpurgo, 2006 p.191). One way this can be seen is through the introduction of Day Nursery Provision. This occurred as a result of the stereotypical family roles undergoing change, when the fathers served for their country, and the mothers therefore had to provide for the family by going out to work. (Cunningham and Morpurgo, 2006).
Children also were seen less equally than adults and had lesser awareness of the benefits of the changes that were occurring (Cunningham and Morpurgo, 2006). According to Cunningham and Morpurgo, (2006), ‘For many of them, what stuck in the memory was the humiliation of being picked out by Nitty Nora, the homesickness of being an evacuee in the strangeness of the countryside or being caught between the need to contribute to the family and the wish to carry on in school’ (p.196). This highlights the repercussions of the war on many aspects of a child’s life such as emotionally, and the societal pressures on children at the time.
Also as a result of the war, there was a change to the child welfare services which can be seen through the 1948 Children Act. This occurred as a result of a previous death of a child under the care of his foster father and the 1946 Curtis Report (Munro, 2008). Within the Children Act 1948, ‘every local authority had to set up a children’s committee charged with furthering the best interests of children in care. Each committee looked specifically either to keep children in their families or restore them to the family unit, or to encourage the fostering solution’ (Cunningham and Morpurgo, 2006 p.195).
The development of Modern British welfare state can also be seen through the 1942 Beveridge Report. The aim of the report was to provide social security for all ages, ensuring that there was basic needs that were being met for all. It proposed that all working people should pay a weekly contribution to the state. These contributions would then be used to assist the unemployed, the sick, the retired and the widowed. (The National Archives, no date) and this has been continued to this day.
In conclusion, the first half of the twentieth century underwent huge changes as a result of increasing concern for children and society became more aware that children were a valuable group to wider society. (Foley, Roche and Tucker, 2001).
Multi-agency Working
This section of the report will focus on multi-agency working; the definition, the development of multi-agency working and the strengths and the criticisms of multi-agency working.
Multi-agency working is when there is a collaboration of services working together to appropriately support the child. Dependant on the circumstances, different services will be used in conjunction. Multi-agency working is predominately concerned with the accessibility of support and services for children, parents, families and communities (Gasper, 2010). Multi-agency working aids people in many ways such as accessing ‘the most appropriate help from all relevant agencies, develop their skills and extend their education and enable[s] them to live more fulfilled lives and contribute more fully to wide society’ (Gasper, 2010 p.2).
Multi-agency working is important in terms of facilitating opportunities for the needs of children to be addressed as individuals alongside communicating with the whole family collectively (Gasper, 2010).When multi-agency working is successful, there can be an identification of the care or lack of care a child is receiving, the organisation of a timely response can be more effective, through the development of a shared understanding of the child’s circumstances and appropriate intervention can be enforced (Maynard and Powell, 2014).
In contrast, there are sometimes occasions when multi-agency working isn’t successful. This can be seen in well-known safeguarding cases such as Maria Colwell and Victoria Climbie. As a result of a breakdown in communication and ineffective collaboration between the multidisciplinary team, dire consequences occurred. The death of Maria Colwell in 1973 impacted greatly on policy due to the inquiry and moral panic that occurred as a result of lack of intervention from social services (Parton, 1985 cited in Walker, 2008). The death of Victoria Climbie in 2000, also sparked further changes within Policy. Multi-agency working could be seen as not successful due to the fact that ‘there were at least 12 occasions when the agencies involved in her protection could have intervened to save her’ (Cunningham and Morpurgo, 2006 p.236). There was also a ‘failure to interview Victoria alone [and] basic poor practices such as incoming faxes being allowed to fall on the floor without being picked up on a regular basis’ (Maynard and Powell, p.194) which shows the further failings of multi-agency working.
A child’s right to be listened to is essential in regards to multi-agency working. Historically, children weren’t listened to, up until the 1930s onwards when society started listening to children (Cunningham and Morpurgo, 2006). This can also be seen within the failure of multi-agency working within the Victoria Climbie case. As a result of English being Victoria’s second language it can be seen that there may have been a language barrier between the professionals and herself thus concluding that there could have been a breakdown in communication; impacting on her treatment (HM government, 2003).
However, when critiquing multi-agency working, it is important to consider all factors that lead to ineffective multi-agency working. Reder and Duncan (2004) cited in Maynard and Powell (2014), highlights the importance of considering all factors stating that there must be an awareness that multi-agency failure ‘often occur in a context or under-resourced, demoralised teams of staff, with difficulties of staff recruitment and retention and inadequate management’ (p.194).
The case of Victoria Climbie ‘led to fundamental changes in approach and lent a new urgency to the need for effective inter-agency working. The consequent report (Laming Report) led to more formal procedures and a government White Paper, Every Child Matters: Change for Children’ (DfES, 2004 cited in Gasper, 2010 p.7). This also ‘highlighted the government’s vision for all children in England and Wales to: stay safe, be healthy, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being’ (Waller, 2009 p.120); reflecting the Every Child Matters principles.
The UNCRC, UNICEF, and PISA; their influence on British Policy towards children
This final section of the report will address international policy and how they influence child-focused policy in Britain.
The United Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) ‘provides the framework for a minimum set of universal standards and entitlements for children and signatory countries agree to base their national legislation on these standards’ (Maynard and Powell, 2014 p.19). The UNCRC came into force in 1990 after the movement towards ‘the concept that children are individuals with rights to voice their views, to participation and to be protected’ (Waller, 2009 p.170-171).
The UNCRC ‘aims to strike a balance between the rights of children to autonomy and a voice, their right to care and protection and the rights of parents to bring up their children in the way they see fit’ (Maynard and Powell, 2014 p.167); which reflects ‘the emerging concept of children in modern society as people with rights of their own, independent of the adults around them, and with complex needs to be met if they are to develop to their full potential’ (Munro, 2008 p.30).
Within the UNCRC, there are many articles which should be aimed to achieve. Article 12, which highlights the right that a child has regarding expression of their opinion, can also be seen within the Children Act 1989 which puts this right into place (Maynard and Powell, 2014). The Children Act 1989 is seen to be ‘more wide ranging than any previous legislation because it brought together the public law, governing state services to children and child protection, and the private law, governing family life and disputes over children’s upbringing, in the same statutory framework'(Maynard and Powell, 2014 p.166).
The emphasis from the Children Act 1989 and the UNCRC regarding listening to children is also highlighted by Gillick competency. This emphasises that children under the age of 16 have the right to consent to medical treatment, specifically contraception, without parental consent if they are believed to have the capacity to make an informed decision (NSPCC, 2016)
Although the UNCRC ensures that a child has rights, it can be evaluated that due to the nature of childhood not every child is aware of their rights. This is highlighted by Twum-Danso (2009 cited in Maynard and Powell, 2014) who states that ‘A view of children both as having rights but, because of their immaturity and innocence, of being incapable of exercising their rights, ensures that the UNCRC affords children protection as well as equal status with adults’ (p.19).
The United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is ‘an offshoot of the United Nations and the expansion of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Catholic Action for Aid and Development (CAFOD), Oxfam and Save the Children, which work alongside supranational bodies’ (Wyness, 2012 p.231). UNICEF also ensures that there is an awareness of cultural differences through their publication of ‘The State Of The World’s Children’ (Waller, 2009 p.13). This publication ‘focuse[s] on children’s rights as poverty, armed conflict and HIV/AIDS threaten children’s survival and development’ (Waller, 2009 p.13). Finally, UNICEF aims to aid children internationally to ‘escape poverty and malnutrition, gain access to safe water and decent sanitation facilities and complete primary schooling’ (Waller, 2009 p.13).
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assesses ‘young people’s knowledge and life-skills in economically developed countries. The four main areas of assessment are: reading, mathematics and science literacy; study and learning practices; family resources and structure (including pupils’ own perspectives of their school-life and peers); and the organization of schools and school environments’ (The United Nation’s Children’s fund, 2007 p.17).
Additionally, it provides ‘a resource of comprehensive information relating to cross-national educational achievement, describing socio-economic, cultural, programmatic and technology characteristics supplied through questionnaires to students, parents, and schools in over 60 countries worldwide. PISA offers social science researchers and policymakers an opportunity to explore perennial issues in education through these cross-national data’ (Meyer and Benavot, 2013 p.27).
However, Serentil and Palmer (2014) have critiqued PISA on the basis that the questions are badly structured, ethnocentric and for some are difficult to understand. Serentil and Palmer (2014) also concluded that due to the academic focus of the questions; other aspect of learning, including active and participative, social and emotional factors are ignored.
In conclusion, there is evidence that the experiences of childhood have vastly improved since the beginning of the twentieth century due to official interventions and cultural influences on British Policy.
Reference List
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Foley, P., Roche, J. and Tucker, S. (eds.) (2001) Children in society: Contemporary theory, policy, and practice. 2nd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Gasper, M. (2010) Multi-agency working in the early years: Challenges and opportunities. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.
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Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/273183/5730.pdf
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Lopez Serentill, P and Lopez Palmer, F (2014) PISA and PIAAC study methodology: some achievement and many errors [online].
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Maynard, T. and Powell, S. (2014) An introduction to early childhood studies. Sage Publications.
Meyer, H.D. and Benevot, A. (eds) PISA, power and policy: The emergence of global educational governance. Oxford: Symposium books.
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Nutbrown, C., Clough, P., Atherton, F. and Selbie, P. (2008) Early childhood education: History, philosophy and experience. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
The National Archives (no date) The welfare state.
Available at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/brave_new_world/welfare.htm (Accessed: 15 April 2016).
Walker, G. (2008) Working together for children: A critical introduction to multi-agency working. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Waller, T. and Davis, G. (eds.) (2014) An introduction to early childhood: A multidisciplinary approach. 2nd edn. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Wyness, M.G. (2011) Childhood and society: An introduction to the sociology of childhood. 2nd edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
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