Essay On Children During The Industrial Revolution

The Oppression of Children During the Industrial Revolution Today, six-year-old children would be starting elementary school. Often times, this was not the case during the Industrial Revolution. William Arnold was born in 1860 and was sent to work at only six years old. Arnold stated, “When I was six years and two months old I was sent off to work. Fancy that, only just over six years of age!” (Arnold qtd. in Humphries 2). Forget about having a childhood going to school and playing with peers, children were sent to work at such a young age. During the Industrial Revolution, children were harmed mentally, socially, and physically while working long hours in the factory based on their lack of education, dangerous working conditions and heavy machinery, and the overall loss of a pleasant childhood playing with friends. Children today have simple lives, while during the Industrial Revolution, it was a little more complex. Children during the Industrial Revolution worked long hours in appalling conditions for little pay. Furthermore, “A picture was painted of the ‘dark satanic mill’ where children as

Long hours left no time for social interaction with peers. Children grew up illiterate because they did not attend school and may have even seen some of their peers die while working which affected them mentally. The most heart wrenching thing about the whole situation was the physical abuse that the children had to endure. From being chained to machines, to the loss of limbs, and being slaughtered in a machine while they were just doing their job is absolutely heartbreaking. After all, history tends to repeat itself, hopefully it will not in this case because children were being affected socially, mentally, and physically. It would be ideal if children got a proper education so they could contribute to today’s advancing society and if the death rates of children stayed