Better Babies Their Aim – 1912
I have been reading “Buy, Buy Baby: How Consumer Culture Manipulates Parents and Harms Young Minds” by Susan Gregory Thomas and it is fascinating. In the book, the author mentions an 1899 meeting of the National Congress of Mothers, a meeting that marked the start of “professionalizing” the art of childrearing. What followed was a big shift from the days when mothers sought advice and guidance from their mothers and grandmothers as new emphasis was placed on the knowledge and expertise of doctors and other professionals. This intrigued me so of course I had to Google it. I found a wad of information, including several archived articles from the New York Times. Here is one I found particularly amusing:
It’s funny, mothers now have more instruction and understanding on childrearing than we know what to do with, yet this nation seems far from a state of perfection. Things have changed a lot since 1912 but in a way it seems like we are dealing with the same issues they were.
By the way, the National Congress of Mothers was later renamed the National Congress of Parents and Teachers in 1924 but is better known today as the PTA. You can find a complete history at the PTA website.
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January 29th, 2008 at 12:46 am
When I read something like this, my only thought is ‘good old sin.’ There are two reigning views on human nature: the Christian, and the secular. The Christian sees human beings as hopelessly immersed in sin, and that despite the influence of a life in Christ, we won’t create Eden again. Sin will always dog us, despite our best efforts to curb it.
The secular sees man’s problem as poor education, poor laws, and poor economic distribution…or in this case, poor child rearing. If we can simply get everyone on board to do things right, that ‘perfect’ society can be obtainable.
Take your pick.
January 29th, 2008 at 11:50 am
That book sounds so interesting!