In the first article analysed, “Insanity, philanthropy and emigration: dealing with insane children in late-nineteenth-century north-west England”, written by Steven J. Taylor, focuses on how children with mental illnesses were cared for. Taylor’s main argument is that the treatment of children differed greatly from that of adults, and was often seen as a domestic issue. Taylor uses data from the time recording how many children were admitted to formal institutions following 1845, to show that while there was a steady stream of children admitted, their numbers were always small. This, he states, was due to the stigma around mental disability and due to the belief that a child’s care fell to the family. So, the responsibility of providing treatment was the family’s duty. Another reason for this was that children were often diagnosed as “idiots and imbeciles”, conditions deemed incurable, while adults usually had “mania, melancholia, and dementia”, which could be cured. Taylor also states that the Victorian era brought a change, in that it brought the idea that these kinds of children could be dangerous and potential threats, so it was best to have them institutionalized. Slowly there was a change and push to create specific places to control these children. While still considered a domestic issue, with asylums being last resort along with workhouses, there were attempts to promote the wellbeing of these children outside the home, such as the Mental Deficiency ACt of 1913, and Elementary Education/Defective and Epileptic Children Act. Despite this, these children were still largely kept separate from society, and marginalized due to their mental illness.

         The next piece analysed was set forth by the United Nations council in 1959, titled the “Declaration of the Rights of the Child”, and was to ensure the protection and well being of all children. This was formed as a result of changing attitudes and ideas about childhood at the time. There was a huge push to ensure that all children around the globe would be given rights to education and play, and would be kept from all forms of neglect, cruelty, and exploitation, and were not to be employed until an appropriate age. As there had been pushes towards widespread childhood education and to end child labour, the public was coming to a consensus that children must be protected and given what they could in life to succeed. Parents wanted what was best for their children, and what would get them ahead in life, and the public in general wanted upcoming generations of responsible, educated and loyal citizens. This legislation also protected the rights of children with mental or physical disabilities, or those who were mentally or physically immature. Altogether this piece stated that it was mankind’s job to ensure children were protected and given the best they could be given in life.  

          The final piece is an article from Schooling in Transition: Readings in the Canadian History of Education,  “White Supremacy, Chinese Schooling, and School Segregation in Victoria: The Case of the Chinese Students’ Strike, 1922-1923” by Timothy J Stanley. In this article Stanley uses pieces of legislation and other primary sources from the time to show the segregation that kept chinese children from attending public schools in Victoria, British Columbia, from 1922-1923. Stanley uses this article to describe that the main reason behind this segregation was largely due to the fear from the white community, who believed the chinese children would spread disease, cause inadequate learning, and threaten their children, especially their daughters who could run off and elope with a chinese man. They deemed keeping them separate was a matter of safety for themselves and their children, and stated that segregation in the schools was no different than the segregation between orientals and whites that already existed outside the school system. There was also a fear that a more educated chinese population could no longer be used for cheap labour, and would instead compete for middle class jobs. Stanley then goes on to explain that the chinese community was not pleased with this new form of segregation, and refused to take it, resulting in student strikes and a wave of resistance from the community that shocked Victoria’s white population. This resistance to the injustice of racial segregation can still be seen in Victoria today, though segregation in public schools came to its end.

          The first and last articles depict the segregation of children from society due to the idea that these children were threats. In the first article it was the child’s mentality that defined them as different, and subsequently confined them to the home. In the third article it was an issue of race which kept oriental children from participating in public education. The threat of a mentally unstable child kept these children from leaving the home, and could even have them sent to an asylum. They were unable to mix with society or even attend school, until the appropriate pushes,  and legislations developed,  allowed them to be mixed in. The chinese children, due to their cultural differences and believed inadequacy, marked them as dangerous to white families and their children, leading to their exclusion in school, and large scale segregation in the community. Though pieces of legislation, such as the United Nations declaration, analysed above, supposedly guaranteed the rights of children to education, play and care, this was easier said than done. While the declaration was put in place to ensure the wellbeing of every child, all around the world and regardless of disability, it took society longer to accept children seen as different, and provide them proper care and rights. This adds to our understanding of the Canadian past by displaying previous acts of injustice and segregation done onto children, and their families. These articles help us to understand the reasoning used behind people of these time periods to justify keeping “dangerous” children separate. These pieces also go onto show a slow shift in attitude that led to a more inclusive view, and the belief that all children have the right to be protected, cared for, and have all their needs met by society.

Bibliography

Taylor, Steven J. “Insanity, philanthropy and emigration: dealing with insane children in late-nineteenth-century north-west England.” History Of Psychiatry 25, no. 2 (June 2014): 224. Complementary Index, EBSCOhost (accessed September 30, 2017).

Yazarsız, Y . “Declaration of the Rights of the Child”. Milletlerarası Hukuk ve Milletlerarası Özel Hukuk Bülteni 16 (2011): 221-224

Stanley, Timothy J. “White Supremacy, Chinese Schooling, and School Segregation in Victoria: The Case of the Chinese Students’ Strike, 1922-1923.” in Sara Burke and Patrice Milewski (Eds.), Schooling in Transition: Readings in the Canadian History of Education, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012: 237-252.

Image: Yellow Arnica, taken by Katryna Barone