Ch. 2

This chapter was interesting to read. I really never thought about how children were viewed in the times past today. "A child was considered a small adult who should enter into adult life as quickly as possible and stories primarily for young people were considered unnecessary" (Norton, 2003). It saddened me to come to terms with the idea that the enjoyable, fascinating books that we have now for children did not exist, moreover story books for young children were "unnecessary" at one time in history. In 1476, most of the books written were not written for interest. Their main objective was to improve a child's manners and instruct to shape their minds. There is nothing wrong with this concept of children books being an "instruction manual" on how to be a perfect child, yet children need to be able to enjoy themselves through reading. They can be taught morals, values and virtue through books that are gearing them in the right direction, yet will entertain the young, impressionable mind.

During the Victorian Age, it was the upper-class children whom were more privileged and deemed to be "special". The lower-class children on the other hand were not so privileged, as their world consisted of mine working and factory laboring. Due to their accessibility to books, upper- class children enjoyed the wonder of fantasy stories that altered their imagination. During this era, most books main focus was on sense of duty to parents and to God. Children acquired a sense of respect for authority. A prominent theme in children's literature was on relationships of children within the family. Hard- working children shared suffering and poverty with their family, within a unit. Well- to-do children of nobility often spent most of their childhood separated from their family. I know that money gets you to a place of comfort, but nothing beats the comfort of having the people you love around you, through times of riches to poverty.

Personally, I wish the views from the Victorian Era were still relevant to today's society. Most children have gotten so far away from the fear of authority. Put a child (who hasn't been taught respect) in the presence of a authority figure who corrects their mistakes and see how the child responds. I work with children, and I can tell you that I am blowed- away by the lack of respect they have for adults. I give them a simple command, "Please, go sit down at the table." and I get a snooty glare from them, straight in the eyes as they say, "No!". What this generation needs are books that will reteach our children how to respect their elders. We need to bring them back to the basics through literature that will instill in them a change. Instead, the media is feeding them ideas of how it's alright to be an individual; to rebel and disrespect anyone who comes against you. The children within the 19th century were taught to respect and obey their parents, and above all, God through AMERICANS ARE LIVING IN A world THAT HAS COMPLETELY DISMANTLED HOW LIFE SHOULD OPERATE. God is a KING, and we are HIS subjects. I don't know how we bought into the lie that when God says to do something, its alright to say, "No!"

Within the classroom experience, a child needs to be fostered into learning how to enjoy reading. I wasn't much interested in reading, but all throughout elementary school, we would have book "read-ins". During those days, we were allowed to bring blankets and pillows along with various different books, and we read all day. This allowed for comfort in a place where comfort is not easily found. I enjoyed the reading experiences because I felt less intimidated within the compounds of a classroom.