Adolescence can be a confusing time. When does adolescence begin,
and more importantly when does it end? When and how does one make
the transition into adulthood? There has been a long debate over
the answers to these questions. Most people would say that adolescence
starts around the age 13, but does it end when you graduate high school
or after college? When does adulthood begin? Some people say
that it might begin at 18 while many will say no it is at 21 or even 24.
How
did adolescence's make the tradition in the past?
Middle
Ages:
During the Middle Ages
children were treated as miniature adults. By age 7 or 8, they were
treated as if they had the same mental capacities for understanding and
feeling as adults. In the medieval society the idea of childhood
did not exist. There was no real transition period since the children
were supposed to act and do adult things at such an early age.
The
Early Years:
During 1500-1890,
there were three historical periods that helped transform adolescents
into the workforce.
-
The life cycle service
was where the child would move out of their home and obtain an apprenticeship
to learn a trade for a period of seven years. Schools at that time
were not as important since all they really needed to know were things
that they learned at home. Knowing how to read or write were not
as important as to learning how to work on the farm to grow food so they
can survive.
-
The early colonial period
in 1800’s where there was a shift from rural to urban environments.
-
During industrialization
child labor was increasing and becoming more dangerous. The industrial
revolution ended apprenticeships.
The 1890 census estimated 1.5 million children between the
ages of 10 and 15 years were employed 1.
Some groups were trying to push for stronger legislation to control the
exploitation of children.
The National Child
Labor Committee (NCLC) was founded in 1904.
-
The aim of this committee
was to coordinate activities and standardize legislative demands across
the individual states and to agitate for federal legislation 1.
By 1910,
census estimated 2 million children between the ages of 10 and 15
years were employed 1.
When the U.S. entered that First World War there was an increase in child
labor. After the war, the NCLC saw a back to school movement as a
way to prevent child employment.
Child
Labor (Late 18th and early 19th century)
The
industrial
revolution did not create the child labor problem, but it did not help
the situation.
-
The working conditions
became worse.
-
During that period, child
labor became more like child slavery.
-
Children as young as five
were deprived of an education and were
forced to work all
day or all night with little pay in crowed factories.
Children
worked in coal mines for eighteen or twenty hours a day where they had
to pull heavy loads of coal in dark shafts 3.
There was no need for education since all they needed to learn was on the
farm and at home. Children were working in factories and mills for
sixteen hours a day. The child savers were people that wanted to
try to protect the children.
1890 - 1920
This
period was called the “age of adolescence”. There was a lot
of compulsory legislation aimed at adolescences 2.
Child labor laws were formed, thanks to the child savers that fought
for the rights of the children.
-
States passed laws to
prohibit companies to hire children and limit their hours.
-
States also mandated
compulsory education and children had to attend school all the way until
high school. Before compulsory education, most children were
only finishing grammar school and then going straight into the work force.
Juvenile Justice
System
The
juvenile justice system was created in 1899. Illinois was
the first to state to set up a juvenile justice system. In the beginning,
children
were treated as adults in the justice system. Now
there
is a separate system for children and adults. During this time
there was a beginning of scholarship and many adolescence was attending
schools and graduating from high school. School became important
to obtain a job. The demand to have to know how to grow food and
to live off of it was not as important any more.
-
In 1900 and 1930
the number of high school graduates increased and the number of
10-15 year olds who were employed dropped 75 percent 2.
20th
Century
1920’s
Adolescents
had increased autonomy and conformity to peer values instead of
being passive and conformed to adult values 2.
By 1920, the census returns appeared to show some decline in the
levels of child employment. The decline was due to better
legislation on child employment and improved attendance laws.
-
The number of children
in the 10-15 age group who were working
was estimated to have fallen
to one million 1.
1930’s – 1940’s
Were
during the depression and two world wars. There were serious economic
and political concerns during that time. The world wars exposed adolescents
to military service and serious life threatening event but also
gave them a greater sense of independence because they got to travel
all over 2.
-
In 1930’s, no child
under 16 years of age could be in full time employment.
In the
early part of the century it was more common for children to work then
attend school, but by the 1930’s and 1940’s it was more common to stay
in school.
1950’s
Every state had laws for adolescents between the ages of 16 and 18.
The government was paying for people to go to college through the GI Bill
2.
Getting
a college degree was the key to getting a good job. In the 1950’s,
adolescents were also focused on getting married and having a family.
The television was beginning to be in many homes.
1960’s
People
began to be aware that many African American adolescents were being
denied a college education and had poor secondary education2.
1970’s
There
was an increase in achievement oriented, upwardly mobile career
to be attained through hard work in high school, college or a vocational
training school 2. The women's
movement also occurred during this time and women fought to obtain jobs
that were typically male oriented.
Today
Today there is still a focus on education and the need to obtain
a college degree or at least some additional training or education
after high school. The technology is changing quickly.
The use of the internet has opened up to a greater opportunity to obtain
knowledge and information. There is also a longer life expectancy.
Since there is longer life expectancy there is a longer period to prepare
for adulthood. The average age of an adult today is around
24-25.
In the 1900’s the average age of adulthood was 17-18.
Today
many children are working and going to school at the same time.
Children enter formal employment around 14-16 years old before then
they worked in informal settings for example baby-sitting and newspaper
delivery
1. There seems to
be a progression towards more formal employment that is associated
with more adult forms of employment 1.
One reason for the shift is increase in poverty.
Can working during
adolescences be beneficial?
-
Working can be a benefit
to adolescence if work is only a small time commitment per week.
-
Large time commitment can
have a negative educational outcome because adolescences are less likely
to spend time on homework.
-
Working may enhance education
by giving children the opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge to real
life situations 1.
-
Those who work performed
better on practical knowledge test such as business and working with others
1.
Conclusion
Adolescences
have changed a lot from the middle ages when we thought of children as
miniature adult to today where adolescence is a distinct stage in development
and it important in making the transition into adulthood. Adolescence
was not even considered a stage until the 1890’s - 1920.
Why is this?
One
reason is because life expectancy was lower then it is today. You
needed to get married and have a family earlier and it was an agriculture
society. You lived off of your own land and didn't need any outside
sources to live. Everything that one needed to know was home on the
farm. When technology started to change so did the economy and because
of the change one needed to rely on others for resources. Life expectancy
increased as the conditions of living became better. Since humans
lived longer the transition to adulthood also was longer. There was
not a rush into getting married and starting a family right away.
Main Points
I
wanted to portray that adolescences are always changing to fit the changing
technology and times. Adolescences are not the only period that is
changing, so are all the other stages of development, for example the transition
form adulthood to old age is also changing and shifting as well.
One needs to be aware of and have an understanding of the history of adolescents
so one can understand how we got to the point that we are at now.
We can look back and see the progression of the adolescent period and what
they were facing and the transitions that they had to face.
References
1)
Lavalette, M. (1999). A Thing of the Past. New York: St. Martin’s
Press
2)
Santrock, J. (2001). Adolescence (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
3)
Trattner, W. (1970). Crusade for the Children. Chicago: Quadrangle
Books
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