Editing Child (section)

=== Modern concepts of childhood ===
[[File:Fountain Fun.jpg|thumb|Children play in a fountain in a summer evening, [[Davis, California]].]]
[[File:A moment in the garden.jpg|thumb|An old man and his granddaughter in [[Turkey]].]]
[[File:Nepalese-children-with-cats.jpg|thumb|[[People of Nepal|Nepalese]] children playing with [[cat]]s.]]
[[File:Harari Girls, Ethiopia (8261348010).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Harari people|Harari]] girls in Ethiopia.]]

The modern attitude to children emerged by the late 19th century; the Victorian middle and upper classes emphasized the role of the family and the sanctity of the child – an attitude that has remained dominant in Western societies ever since.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Jordan TE |title=Victorian child savers and their culture : a thematic evaluation |date=1998 |publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]] |location=[[Lewiston, New York]] | oclc = 39465039 |isbn=978-0-7734-8289-0}}</ref> The genre of [[children's literature]] took off, with a proliferation of humorous, child-oriented books attuned to the child's imagination. [[Lewis Carroll]]'s fantasy ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'', published in 1865 in England, was a landmark in the genre; regarded as the first "English masterpiece written for children", its publication opened the "First Golden Age" of children's literature.

The latter half of the 19th century saw the introduction of compulsory state schooling of children across Europe, which decisively removed children from the workplace into schools.<ref>Sagarra, Eda. (1977). ''A Social History of Germany 1648–1914'', pp. 275–84</ref><ref>Weber, Eugen. (1976). ''Peasants into Frenchmen: The Modernization of Rural France, 1870–1914'', pp. 303–38</ref>

The market economy of the 19th century enabled the concept of childhood as a time of fun, happiness, and imagination. Factory-made dolls and doll houses delighted the girls and organized sports and activities were played by the boys.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Chudacoff HP |title=Children at Play: An American History |date=2007 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-1665-6}}</ref>
The [[Boy Scout]]s was founded by Sir [[Robert Baden-Powell]] in 1908,<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Woolgar B, La Riviere S | year = 2002| title = Why Brownsea? The Beginnings of Scouting | publisher = Brownsea Island Scout and Guide Management Committee }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hillcourt |first1=William |title=Baden-Powell; the two lives of a hero |date=1964 |publisher=Putnam |location=New York |isbn=978-0839535942 |url=https://archive.org/details/badenpowelltwoli0000unse/mode/2up?q=brownsea |oclc =1338723}}</ref> which provided young boys with outdoor activities aiming at developing character, citizenship, and personal fitness qualities.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Boehmer E | title=Notes to 2004 edition of Scouting for Boys|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=[[Oxford]]}}</ref>

In the 20th century, [[Philippe Ariès]], a French historian specializing in [[medieval history]], suggested that childhood was not a natural phenomenon, but a creation of society in his 1960 book ''[[Centuries of Childhood]]''. In 1961 he published a study of paintings, gravestones, furniture, and school records, finding that before the 17th century, children were represented as mini-adults.

In 1966, the American philosopher [[George Boas]] published the book ''The Cult of Childhood''. Since then, historians have increasingly researched childhood in past times.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Ulbricht J |date=November 2005|title=J.C. Holz Revisited: From Modernism to Visual Culture|journal=Art Education|volume=58|issue=6|pages=12–17|doi=10.1080/00043125.2005.11651564|s2cid=190482412|issn=0004-3125}}</ref>

In 2006, [[Hugh Cunningham (historian)|Hugh Cunningham]] published the book ''Invention of Childhood'', looking at British childhood from the year 1000, the [[Middle Ages]], to what he refers to as the Post War Period of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Cunningham H | date = July 2016 |chapter=The Growth of Leisure in the Early Industrial Revolution, c. 1780–c. 1840 | title = Leisure in the Industrial Revolution |pages=15–56 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315637679-2 |isbn=978-1-315-63767-9 }}</ref>

Childhood evolves and changes as lifestyles change and adult expectations alter. In the modern era, many adults believe that children should not have any worries or work, as life should be happy and trouble-free. Childhood is seen as a mixture of simplicity, innocence, happiness, fun, imagination, and wonder. It is thought of as a time of playing, learning, socializing, exploring, and worrying in a world without much adult interference.<ref name="cohen"/><ref name="reeves"/>

A "loss of innocence" is a common concept, and is often seen as an integral part of [[coming of age]]. It is usually thought of as an experience or period in a child's life that widens their awareness of evil, pain or the world around them. This theme is demonstrated in the novels ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]'' and ''[[Lord of the Flies]]''. The fictional character [[Peter Pan]] was the embodiment of a childhood that never ends.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bloom |first1=Harold |title=Major themes in Lord of the Flies |url=https://1.cdn.edl.io/DCZIfXm4z8XvzcRiCqTQbpSIBE3zLa6rhs0IuJCTkigqTLD9.pdf |archive-date=11 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211194237/https://1.cdn.edl.io/DCZIfXm4z8XvzcRiCqTQbpSIBE3zLa6rhs0IuJCTkigqTLD9.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Barrie, J. M. ''Peter Pan''. Hodder & Stoughton, 1928, Act V, Scene 2.</ref>