Child Saving Movement in Britain - Essay Example

Child Saving Movement in Britain Child Saving Movement in Britain Child saving movement was the charitable organization that dealtwith the protection and benefit of children. The child savers were concerned with fighting child abuse, regulating the existence of child labour, inventing kindergartens, establishing playgrounds for the children, establishing the Juvenile Court which was mainly for children, they campaigned for mothers’ pensions and fought to reduce infant mortality rate. It first began as an active coalition of women club members, urban professionals and philanthropists. The child savers addressed the miserable social conditions that the children were subjected to. They held to the fact that children had the right to be protected the same way adults were protected (Behlmer1 1982, p7). The child saving movement began in England in 1860’s. It began as a charitable movement but later in the 1890’s it professionalized in child welfare work. As it progressed, the work was filled with educated professionals rather than volunteers. The child savers brought about a new realization of humanism in their duties. Hendrik noted that it was gratifying to consider the children social welfare (Muncie & Hughes 2002, 22). The invention of the juvenile courts was among the achievements of the child savers (Clarke 1985). The court was founded on capital principles. They exempted themselves from being accountable for the children behavior and maintained the fact that the children were not fully developed and in a position to rehabilitate faster than the adults. The juvenile court was responsible for charging the young offenders. The court was on the idea that mothers should not treat their children by harsh measures in the ranks on crime and vice. They should deal with them as children and wards. The child savers felt that the juvenile court executed traditional legal policies with more efficiency and flexibility (Platt 1969, p194). There the courts were responsible for dealing with children who were found in the wrong side of the law and those who were indiscipline. They had the cases of the children and ruled them with just considering both sides of the cases. They did not favor the children rather sentenced those whose charges were approved and took them to probation centers or jail schools. The institutions were meant to help the children change their vices and adapt new virtues. The organizations focused mainly on children in the family rather than the family in general. They were ready to intervene in private matters of the family in order to save children. At times, they worked on keeping the family together even if the head of the family would be abusive. Most of the organizations were not willing to remove the children from their families, despite their efforts in protecting children. They emphasized the rights of children to receive parental care. English policies were dominated by a determination that properties should be kept within families. Therefore in working to protect the children the child saving organizations prevented the children from selling the families properties. They suggested too the idea of sibling equality and the necessity of parents to divide their wealth equally among the children. But they hold strictly on the British policies which recognized the father responsibility in the family. Welfare organization were the best secured through property arrangements. The children who had properties were best secured and had greater independence. The child saving organizations established orphans courts in which its responsibility was to protect the property of orphans when the parents died. The courts recognized the children and used children’s property as the fundamental right for the children. It also used the property as the welfare protection for children. The child savers in Britain were the Liverpool Society for The Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Which was found in 1983; later branches were opened in London and other cities. The British child savers were reluctant to arrest the responsible parents who harassed their children. They preferred warning them and visiting them to correct wayward parents. Later the organization was given power to oversee the treatment of children. Under the leadership of Benjamin Waugh, child abuse was brought to the forefront of British consciousness and strengthened the national society for the prevention of cruelty to children in the 1890s. Child savers regulated the time the children participated in the textile mills to forty eight hours a week. It encouraged children to attend schools for at least two hours a day. Silk factory was exempted from these restrictions because it focused on child employment. Later the minimum age was lowered to eight and was allowed to balance half-half between school and labour. The organization of children rights agreed on a contract in which masters promised training and support in exchange for Childs personal service. Incase of the death of the parents the master was supposed to give the child parental support, nurture and education in return by the child’s services. The British policies emphasized in teaching children to work as well as learn. Despite the efforts of the Britain child savers, the organization did not enforce compulsory school attendance. They took long before enacting the compulsory education laws. Immediately when they enacted the law they emphasized on promoting the public and private funded kindergartens. The child savers organizations created jail school and probation centers for the children who were stubborn and indiscipline. The probation was meant for the children reformatories (Barley, 198 p736). They too created charitable boarding school which was especially for the neglected children. The schools were run by volunteer probation officers and the social workers. The organization worked to provide leisure time and activities for children. Robert Baden-Powel established the scouts in Britain. Robert trained young solders. Robert had hoped that scout will help to nurture the children fitness and mental state. He too had the idea to keep the children busy to help them avoid evil activities. They invented playgrounds to keep the children active; they believed that to the effective development of children play was essential. They too understood that social fitness was necessary for the growth of children. The Great Britain established a separated judicial system for the juveniles. In the courts, there were child guidance clinics which changed the way the court looked at young offenders (Gillis 1975). There was a greater focus on psychiatry in the courts. The courts relied on probation of the children and industrial schools. The schools aims were to rehabilitate the youths who were troublesome (Siegel & Welsh 2009 p477). The courts handled the cases involving child abuse and child labour. The creation of the law for the children caused the children and youthful to be dependence. A comprehensive code for the children was established. The English policies established a clear line between the children and adults. They provided too second lines for secondary that was within childhood for the specific legal acts. The organization handled the cases of sexual abuse on girls (Behlmer1 1982). Cases of girls’ child abuse exploded on the consciousness of the organization. One of the stories that were published in the Pall Mall Gazette involved a thirteen year old girl who was bought by a brothel. The Government of Britain granted the police power to prosecute the people who were involved in prostitution (Behlmer1 1982). The child saver organization was concerned about girls of the ages between thirteen and sixteen because that was the risky age (Stewart1995). Children social welfare was among the priorities of the child savers in Britain. In this regard, they were concerned about the public health of children. They focused on the general sanitation of the children and were concerned about the outbreak of airborne diseases such as tuberculosis, and the institution which specialized in food and milk supplies (Behlmer2 1998). The British law targeted the foster parents’ inspections and emphasized on the registration of infant births and deaths. Later the British schools began providing meals for elementary students in schools and also provided medical inspection for all school children. This was to ensure appropriate health to all the children and prevent them from diseases which were caused by poor nutrition (Cunningham 1991). Later child research institutions were derived. They focused on the internal emotional conflicts of children which helped in explaining problems related to children. They focus on physically challenged children rather than the normal children. The child saving organization wanted to issue child social security. As it focused on research and children rights projects, they opened established a recuperative school which was based at Fairfield house in Kent. The school was meant for children in the inner- city areas. The research institutions also helped young miners’ families by to from poverty. These families were mostly based in poverty striken areas mostly in Wales, and Cornwall. They also supported a school which encouraged the children to have a say in the schools decisions the school was controlled on the principle of a co-operation basis (Hendrick 2002). In conclusion, the child saving organization had a lot of achievements. These achievements included the invention of the juvenile court, creation of kindergartens and probati9on centers and promoting children security and independence. They too had some negative effects which mostly came from the people. Some people thought that the juvenile courts was discriminative and had indeterminate sentencing. Another negative was that some people believed that the organization was not making any effort in saving the children rather it subjected them to tighter supervision and control from the adults. The negative outcome does not overshadow the benefits of the organization. In deed, the organization was successful. Their struggle brought about humanism and altruism. This was the only motivating factors for them. Reference List Bailey, V., 1987. Delinquency and Citizenship: Reclaiming the Young Offender, 1914-1948, USA: Oxford University Press Behlmer1, G., 1982, Child Abuse and Moral Reform in England, 1870–1908, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press Behlmer2, G., 1998. Friends of the Family: The English Home & Its Guardians, 1850-1940. Stanford, Calif : Stanford University Press Clarke, J., 1985, “Managing the Delinquent: The Children’s Branch of the Home Office, 1913-1930,” in Langan M. (Ed), 1985. Crises in the British State, 1880-1930, London : Hutchinson in association with the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, University of Birmingham Cunningham, H., 1991, The Children of the Poor: Representations of Childhood since the Seventeenth Century. UK: Oxford Publishing. Gillis, J., 1975, "The Evolution of Juvenile Delinquency in England, 1890–1914." Past and Present 67: 96–126.ord. UK: Blackwell. Hendrick, H., 2002, “Constructions and Reconstructions of Childhood in Britain: An Interpretative Survey, 1800 to Present,” in Muncie J. et al, Youth Justice: Critical Readings. Cardiff University, UK. Sage Publications Ltd Platt, A., 1969, The Child Savers; the Invention of Delinquency. Chicago: University of Chicago, Siegel. L. & Welsh., J., 2009, B. C. Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice, and Law. USA: Linda Schreiber Stewart, J.1995, “Children, Parents and the State: The Children Act, 1908,” Children and Society, Vol. 9 (1). Read More