What is youth Youth classification developed in the UK and Europe as a result of construction - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages In 1700, the UK and other European countries were still depended on agriculture and child labour was essential in improving the productivity (Bassani, 2008,p 19). In mid 1700s, young people were still working at an early age such as 8 years and girls could be married at the age of 10 years (Swingewood, 2000). There was high infant mortality as almost one third of the children died before the age of 15 years. Additionally, the life expectancy varied between 30 and 40 years (Fulcher and Scott, 2009). The nuclear family formed the basic socialisation unit and most of the population lived in rural villages (Pandey, 1984, p 265). During this period, more than half of the young people aged about 15 years were engaged in domestic service and this formed the transition from the parental home to the marital home (John and Plummer, 2008). The UK had not implemented a formal state system of education and no laws could guarantee the education of children. Although the youth did not exist, legislation on legal age of sex, marriage and employment led to the social construction of young people as youth (White and Wyn, 2010, p 77). In early 1800, the age of consent to sex occupied debate on the nature of adulthood and childhood. Although Sir Edward Coke Secular law of 1275 had granted marriage at the age of 12 years, subsequent laws like 1576 had prohibited sex with a woman child of below 10 years. In 1700, Italia and German introduced laws that provided the age of consent to sexual activity to be 12 years (Wallacxe and Cross, 1990). The Enlightenment concept increase the age of consent to sexual activity to 11 years in late 18th century while countries like France finally increased the age of sexual activity to 13 years for both girls and boys in 1863 (Barry, 2005). Consequently, UK increased the age to 13 years in 1875 while other countries like Portugal, Spain and Denmark followed the same. For instance, the health and morals of apprentices Act of 1802 banned the working of young people in textile factories for more than 12 hours while the factory Act of 1833 provided that children aged 9 to 13 years should not work for more than 48 hours in textile factories. In addition, the factory Act 1833 enforced compulsory school attendance of 12 hours a week for children aged less than 13 years (Stones, 2008). The UK implemented the 1870 education Act that established School Boards to provide education to children aged 5 to 11 years while the 1878 Factory and Workshops Act completely banned the employment of young people below the age of 10 years due to health and safety issues. The UK government also provided assisted education through the Assisted education Act of 1891 and raised the school leaving age to 14 years in 1918. In 1973, the UK increased the school-leaving age to 16 years and currently the age has been set to 17 years for students who joined the compulsory education in September 2008. The UK legislation on employment has also contributed to construction of the youth. For instance, the Children and Young persons Act 1933 prohibited the employment of young people below the age of 13 years. Currently, minimum employment age as been set in line with the school leaving age of 16 years. Young people over the age of 16 years, but below the age of 18 years are identified as young workers and are prohibited from working in certain industries especially where the job entails contact with toxic chemicals or where there is a danger of physical injury (Hammer, 2003, 356). In addition, the legal marriage age is either 16 years where the consent of parents or guardians ...Download file to see next pagesRead More