By Gareth Millward “Our mid 19th-century education acts were brought in […] because workers had to be taught to turn up punctually and not lie in bed when the weather was bad. […] So get ’em young, went the thinking. Get them into “schools”; let the truant officer terrify; let the register morning and afternoon …
By Jennifer Crane “The tensions in these debates also reflected broader tensions in the 1980s themselves: new strands of individualist thought, new interest in listening to and publicising children’s voices and opinions, and the work of a sensationalist media interested in narratives of family, failure, and success.” Photograph: Child Therapy Sessions from the Wellcome Collection. …
“‘Mrs Thatcher is a bloody dictator’ said a 12-year-old in my hearing. Where is such politicisation and abusive language learned by kids?” 1984 Kenny, Mary. “The peril of treating your child like an equal.” Daily Mail, 4 Sept. 1984