Dbq Essay On Children

During the beginning of modern Europe, there were conflicting views on the proper way to view children. Previously in history, the infant mortality rate was very high, so kids were treated more like adults and were often neglected because odds were they would die. There was a resounding view that kids should be treated harshly in order to become strong. Then in the seventeenth century, the idea of being tender and gentle to your kids was introduced. The way in children were brought up was influenced by assumptions made on both old and new schools of thought. One such assumption was that kids needed punishment to be decent and this resulted in a harsh upbringing. However, there was a newer, opposing assumption in which using reason was believed

This style is particularly prominent in The Domostroi a Russian manual on managing a household. It talks about how if you love your child and want them to be proper adults it is necessary to whip or discipline him when they are young.It says that if you make them suffer now that they will blossom into punctual adult human beings that can make you proud (Document 1). Because it’s published as a manual, it is also reasonable to believe that it’s purpose was to reach a wide range of people and to instruct them in raising their kids. If people are being instructed by professional manuals to use punishment in child rearing then they likely listened and therefore it probably influenced the. However, it was also published in Russia in the 1550s, a time where the country still greatly lagged behind the western european countries. Serfdom was still around and subjects were still seen as objects, so it’s no wonder punishment of children would be considered ordinary. Similar old styles of childrearing were seen in France by Henry IV. In a letter to the governess of his child, he complains that she has not informed him about whipping his son. He then ensues that she should be whipping him because that’s what's best for him. He talks about how he was whipped as a child and how much it’s bettered him (Document 4). This

This style assumes that being kind to your child will cause them to be a success. The practices used in this style were introduced and instituted much later than the typical punishment style discussed before. In a letter, Margaret Cavendish talks about the way in which her mother raised her. She talks about how her mother never tried to torture them as kids, rather she was nice and did everything she could to keep them happy. Instead of receiving corporal punishment they were spoken to and instructed on the right behavior (Document 5). This letter was written in the 1620s while the Enlightenment was going on, which encouraged all people to act with reason. It is likely that her and her family were informed of these new ideas because of their position in society as dukes and duchesses. She had privileged circumstances. There were even guides written on how to use reason in speaking to your kids. William Blundell, an English Catholic gentlemen, wrote “An Exercise for the Children to Embolden Them in Speaking”. The book contains a dialogue between him and his daughter which basically highlights the importance of fathers using reason and gentle conversation to correct his daughter's behavior (Document 6). It his important that he gives her the set of morals that she needs to be a good catholic citizen. He recognizes that this is better done with conversation rather than punishment.