The History of Childhood

For most of human history, CHILDHOOD as a distinct and protected stage of life simply did not exist. In ancient and medieval societies, children were treated as small ADULTS the moment they could walk, talk, and contribute to the family's survival. Historians have found that children as young as five or six were expected to work alongside their parents in fields, workshops, and homes. The French historian Philippe Ariès famously argued in his 1960 book that the concept of CHILDHOOD as a separate, innocent phase of life was essentially a MODERN invention — one that only emerged gradually in Western Europe from about the 17th century onward. His work sparked enormous DEBATE among scholars and changed the way historians think about family, children, and social history forever.