Fear of the Future: Victorian Childhood's EvolutionMain MenuIntroductionChildhoodSection IntroductionMoralitySection IntroductionGender and Victorian ChildhoodSection IntroductionClass and Victorian ChildhoodSection IntroductionColonial Child and Victorian ChildhoodSection IntroductionTimelineBibliography, References, and Further ReadingsLaura Fitzpatrick9f1bb1740dab097ebf17c64d01d58ab175a1992c
Published in 1864 in Bow Bells, this piece begs father’s to notice their children. More than this, it demands that father’s teach their children to “appreciate the beautiful things in this world”. It asks readers to understand that children can do so much more than study and stay out of sight. With an emphasis on the beauty of the world, we get a sound picture of why the whimsy of childhood as we understand it today should be valued in the Victorian period. This is a decided shift from earlier perspectives that to encourage such behavior would negatively impact the moral growth of the child.