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Historical Views of Child and Adolescent Development
Since the dawn of civilization, parents and educators have wondered how to best raise a child. From ancient Greek and Chinese philosophers, to those that wrote the Old Testament and Tripitaka, words of wisdom have been shared on how to correctly raise a child. Of course, one’s view on how to raise a child is going to be influenced by his or her view of human nature.
Aristotle (384–322 BC) believed that children are born as blank slates. This is known as the tabula rasa view of human nature. An English philosopher, named John Locke (1632–1704) shared the tabula rasa view. This view of human nature sees children and their development shaped by their environment and experiences. Locke advocated for parents to be good role models for their children in order to facilitate the development of character. Children learn self-control, kindness, and honesty by observing their parents exhibit these traits.
Original sin is another view of human nature. Within this view, humans are born with the original sin of Adam and Eve. While Baptism can remove this sin, the soul is still warped and susceptible to choosing evil over good. Within this view, children must be raised to accept the moral doctrine of society and to always be mindful to behave in morally acceptable ways. Without such instruction, children are likely to behave in ways that are either harmful to themselves or harmful to others.
The final view of human nature that we are going to learn about is referred to as the innate goodness view. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), a French philosopher, was an advocate of this view. He believed that infants are born inherently good, and that it is society that can corrupt them. In his writings, he refers to the native savage. This is the idea that if a child is raised away from civilization and with minimal restrictions on his freedom, then that child would manifest the innate goodness with which he was born. In this view, parents simply need to give the child freedom to develop along his or her pathway, and to protect them from the corruptible influences of society.
How we view human nature influences every interaction that we have with others. However, we need to examine one more historical issue beyond human nature. At what age are children capable of adult behaviors? In modern America, we do not expect children to be left alone or capable of caring for themselves before late childhood or early adolescence. However, it was not always this way. During the Industrial Revolution, children as young as five worked in factories for up to 12 hours a day. Even today, there are cultures around the globe that allow young children to cook over open fires, carry machetes, and care for younger siblings. Therefore, there is no simple answer to this question. It really depends on where and when you live. (1)
Watch this silent, black and white film. It shows how children were used and treated in hard labor prior to Worl