The perils of NZ’S ‘cult of the child’
A modern age of child welfare isn’t received well by everyone, as an unnamed author in Manawatu¯’s newspaper in 1904 explains.
Wednesday January 27, 1904 – a fine summer day in Palmerston North and life was peaceful in the borough.
The Manawatu¯ Standard, Pohangina Advertiser and West Coast Gazette, as the daily afternoon newspaper was then called (circulation 3000 daily, price one penny per copy) reprinted a long, uncredited review that day, entitled: ‘‘Notes from a library – the cult of the child’’ in its pages.
It went unmentioned in the letters to the editor column of later days. But what would readers of 2019, 115 years in the future, have thought of it?
The article reads: ‘‘ ‘Poor little ancestors’ is Thackeray’s comment after a review of the life conditions of children in the 18th century. No future historian will have to make this implied reproach against modern times. Never was there an age when children were so much considered, when so much conscious effort was made for their welfare and happiness.
‘‘With some thinkers, indeed, the subject has become an obsession and its latest statement in Mr HG Wells’ new book, Mankind in the Making, is almost grotesque... The reader is invited to imagine that... the ultimate business of every statesman, social organiser, etc is to do his best for these ‘newcomers’. This is taking the subject very seriously, yet not perhaps more so than present-day sentiment expects.
‘‘The welfare of children is one of the most prominent of modern interests. Science investigates their mental constitution with a view to making their training easy and pleasant; church and state vie with each other in supplying both instruction and amusement; every movement of leisure may be occupied with the many social attractions offered them: cricket, football, swimming classes... and societies representing every letter of the alphabet appeal to them in almost embarrassing numbers.
‘‘They have been freed, too, from superstitious terrors and laugh at thoughts of ghosts or the bogeyman. Nor are they harassed by thinking on abstruse theological questions far beyond their mental powers... The social changes which seem to threaten the disintegration of the home have, at the present state, only a favourable effect on children.
‘‘They are allowed a good deal of independence, yet are not wearied by their ‘unchartered freedom’ for the patriarchal form of authority is at present replaced by an affectionate comradeship, which is even more effective as an instrument of control.
‘‘Another condition which might be mentioned is the increased beauty of children’s surroundings.
‘‘ Read the description in the Daily Mail of the latest hospital for children in London, with its marble walls and its ceiling made of mosaic work, blue as a summer sky, with its white cots and rosepink curtains, through which the babies look out on walls covered with pictures of favourite fairy stories painted on the tiles.
Contrast this ‘pretty house’, as the slum children call it, with the institutions where the poor little Oliver Twists of earlier days so pathetically asked for more and we gain some idea of what modern feeling – that growth of pity and justice so peculiar to our age – has done for children.
‘‘In almost every direction, an effort has been made to give them more and the resultant happiness is, at the present stage, undeniable. Their schoolbooks are more beautifully got up than a former generation’s storybooks; their toys are marvels of ingenuity and skill; their pantomimes are dreams of beauty. In short, every delight the world can offer is pressed upon them and they are the heirs of all the ages.
‘‘It is an interesting question whether a better and happier type of child is being produced as a result of all this effort. Both positive and negative conditions seem to justify the belief that the child-life of today is happier than at any previous period.
‘‘But whether a better type of child is being produced is perhaps less certain. The child-character, we often hear, has been injured by the materialism of the day and has lost some of its ideal qualities – simplicity, modesty and charm. Children’s parties, for instance, rival those of their elders, and little boys and girls decline to attend these functions unless ‘champagne’ and ices are provided.
‘‘In England lately, such young children were found to have taken up smoking... Coming nearer home, we have lately had an opportunity of seeing how the child-type in this country appears to a visitor.
‘‘Most readers have seen the somewhat startling indictment of New Zealand children lately made in the Empire Review. The writer, Miss Constance Barnicoat* speaks of their ‘rampageous character’ suggests that they are the worst brought up in the world, and mentions disobedience and disrespect to parents as prominent characteristics.
‘‘These are serious charges, and Miss Barnicoat’s reputation as an observer and journalist excludes the idea that they are not to be taken seriously.
‘‘The qualities she notices must be very recent developments, for we have only the other day had General Baden-powell’s high tribute to the character of the New Zealanders who served in the late [Boer] war. We must hope, therefore, that as the case is not yet desperate, all interested will inquire into the matter and seek a remedy.’’
* Nelson-born Constance Barnicoat was a gifted journalist, linguist and mountain climber, who spoke out on various topics, and controversially wore trousers and boys’ boots to climb in, rather than long skirts. She married fellow journalist and mountaineer Israel Julian Grande, who would later name Mt Barnicoat, in the southern Alps, after her. Constance’s death notice in 1922 made no mention of her given name – referring to her only as ‘‘Madame Julian Grande’’ and ‘‘daughter of John Barnicoat, member of Nelson Provincial Council’’.
The child-character, we often hear, has been injured by the materialism of the day and has lost some of its ideal qualities.