Contents
From the nightmare of beating babies to the international recognition of children’s rights – this is how the attitude towards the child in the human community has changed. We invite you to remember what we had to go through so that a modern child can become a person worthy of respect and understanding.
Two thousand years ago, the life of a child differed little from the life of an adult, and the usual concept of childhood simply did not exist. Educational programs for children, parenting books, conscious parenthood, legal protection of the rights of the child – all this has only recently become a natural part of our lives. We have traced how the attitude towards the child has changed throughout history.
I-IV centuries.
Parents see their children as their property: they easily part with them, throw them into rivers, starve them, leave them in deserted places to be torn to pieces by animals and birds.
XNUMXth–XNUMXth centuries
The early Middle Ages does not know childhood. The child is dressed in adult clothes, corsets, armor. In children, they see a reduced copy of adults and, along with them, are arrested, tortured, and executed.
XIII century
Children’s images appear in painting: angels, baby Jesus or a naked child as a symbol of the soul of the deceased. Artists will “notice” real children only after 400 years.
1837
The German teacher Friedrich Fröbel organizes the world’s first kindergarten, where he creates a model for the social education of young children. He comes up with toys that will later be called “educational”.
1861
In Yasnaya Polyana, Leo Tolstoy opens a Free School for peasant children, where he applies the ideas of non-violent pedagogy.
1897
The idea of free education based on self-development was formulated by the American educator and philosopher John Dewey. Its discussion in different countries of the world led to the birth of a new scientific discipline – the philosophy of education.
1907
Trust in children, recognition of their uniqueness – the principles of pedagogy of the Italian Maria Montessori are based on this. Her book “Children’s House. The method of scientific pedagogy” was published in many countries, in Russia in 1913 and… in 2005.
1917
On September 25, Russia published the world’s first Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Its author, Russian educator Konstantin Wentzel, writes about children’s rights to life, protection, happiness and freedom.
1919
Under the League of Nations (predecessor of the UN), a Child Welfare Committee has been established.
The Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner proposes a concept of pedagogy based on the anthropology of the child and the anthroposophical understanding of personality.
1921
“Children are free to be themselves!” – the slogan of the Summerhill School, created in the UK by educator Alexander Neill. The school is still successfully operating today, it is called the happiest educational institution in the world.
1946
The UN creates the Children’s Fund (Unicef) to help European children after World War II.
“The Child and Care for Him” - a book by American pediatrician Benjamin Spock turned the idea of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe system and methods of family education. The era of “free education” began. Later, Spock would abandon the idea of permissiveness and publicly apologize to American parents for having “broke their lives and the lives of their children.”
1959
On November 20, the UN adopts the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which, among others, recognizes the right of children “under all circumstances to be among those who receive protection and assistance first.”
1965
“A mother’s trust in her feelings is the key to a harmonious relationship between adults and children,” says English psychoanalyst and pediatrician Donald Winnicott. For Western society, this idea has become revolutionary: earlier, many women in the US and Europe used to follow the advice of specialists, often not noticing what the child really needs.
1969
The soul of a child, his feelings and aspirations, upbringing without punishment – for the first time in Soviet pedagogy, the Ukrainian teacher Vasily Sukhomlinsky speaks about this in the book “I give my heart to children.”
1980
In Russia, a spontaneous movement “Conscious Parenthood” begins. The main idea is natural childbirth, rapprochement with the child.
1983
In the USSR, the book of the Georgian teacher Shalva Amonashvili “Hello, children!” is published, in which one of the main principles of the new pedagogy is formulated – a humanistic approach to the child.
1986
On October 18, teachers-experimenters adopt the manifesto “Pedagogy of cooperation” in Moscow. The main idea is the recognition of freedom and respect as the norm of relations between adults and children, teachers and students. The restructuring of the Soviet school began with this document.
1989
On July 20, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the first international document in the field of child protection that has legal force.
1992
Russia has adopted the Law on Education, one of the most democratic in the world.
1995
The Family Code of the Russian Federation has a separate chapter dedicated to the rights of minors.
2001
Computer games are gaining more and more popularity among children and young people. On July 25, Russia became the first country in the world to recognize esports as an official sport.
2007
The state begins to help families who decide to have another child. Maternity capital can be spent on improving housing conditions, education or retirement savings for the mother.
In the same year, the first children’s radio station in Russia began broadcasting. The air is compiled taking into account the peculiarities of the daily routine of young listeners, contains educational, educational and entertaining headings.
2008
Russian boy Dima Yakovlev, adopted by an American married couple, dies due to the negligence of his adoptive father Miles Harrison. The US court acquits Harrison, which causes a strong reaction in Russia. In 2012, the State Duma passes the Dima Yakovlev Law, which prohibits US citizens from adopting Russian children.
2009
Writer Grigory Oster is compiling a children’s version of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. “Rights of the Cubs” tells the content of the main document in simple language that a child can understand. The text of the children’s version of the Convention is available at .
2013
Moscow School 1465 was the first to offer special conditions for children with severe forms of autism. A special space, a “resource zone” helps the child to adapt, so that he can then continue his education in a regular classroom. Later, the project “Resource School – a territory of success for everyone” began its work in Moscow, the platforms of which were 58 organizations of the city.
+2016(2017)XNUMX-XNUMX
Parents of teenagers are in a panic: a Blue Whale game has appeared on social networks, the purpose of which is to drive a child to suicide. Whether there really was such an organization and what its goals are, it has not been possible to find out so far. Public opinion is divided: some see it as a serious threat, others believe that the role of the “Blue Whale” in teenage suicides is exaggerated.
2018
Buenos Aires will host the third Summer Youth Olympic Games from 6 to 18 October.
Initially, the Olympic Games were a competition only for adult athletes. In 1998, Moscow hosted the first World Youth Games, renamed in 2010 as the Youth Olympic Games. Since then, athletes from 14 to 18 years old have been participating in international competitions. Games are held every four years: since 2010 – summer, and since 2012 – winter.