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Diminishing Independence: The rise of parental supervision throughout the twentieth and twenty-first century
By: Ronan Hughes
As time has passed the culture and structure of the American family has evolved and reshaped itself numerous times. With these changes one of the most consistent aspects seems to be the gradual increase in supervision of children. After extensive research of various historical sources I have come to the conclusion that the overall standards of child supervision have for the most part shifted towards a less independent and more overseen childhood.
The birth of the childhood that can be recognized by a contemporary audience began to form in the 1950s. Before this time especially in the pre twentieth century families were more akin to a singular unit. As soon as children became useful they were enscripted into the family’s labor force and were required to help out in any way they could. As this concept began to become phased out with child labor laws in the early twentieth century, children were able to experience a time in which they were unburdened by the rules of adulthood. While the typical 1950s family placed immense influence on the authority of the paternal figure in a household this control usually did not extend itself into the playtime of children. Instead of being viewed constantly by the watchful eye of parents children during this time period were usually allowed to roam free outside of the household. In a study published by Slate magazine people were asked about the ages in which they were granted certain freedoms such as being allowed to leave home alone or stay out after dark, as seen below the subjects who grew up in the 50s were mostly able to leave home alone before middle school.
(7) figure 1
(7) figure 2
In contrast to this the subjects from the 1990s were granted the same freedom far later on with the majority of people not being granted this freedom until middle school.
In order to better understand how supervision has changed I feel it is important to characterize the typical attitudes of a 1950s parent on supervision of their children as well as the specific freedoms of those who came of age during this time. In my research, I feel that a very common ideal among parents in the 1950s was that of instilling values in children and allowing them unsupervised independent time.
Rockwell, Norman "Young Love: Walking to School" 1949.
In the article entitled "Child Behavior: Supervised Target Practice May Help 10-Year-Olds" a concerned mother in the 1950s writes to a local advice column over her nine year old son's behavior. The mother details how her son and another local neighborhood boy started to smoke cigarettes. The advice the columnist lends back to the mother demonstrates the more lax attitude on supervision at the time. The columnist suggests that this unsupervised attempt at smoking was a good lesson and might even prevent smoking in the future "an attempt of this sort may be one of the best ways for a boy to learn the disadvantages of early secret smoking"(2). What this article from the time shows is that there was a large emphasis on children being allowed to experience things on their own and learning lessons from what they engaged in. The suggestion in this article is not preventative but rather that this unsupervised moment could actually be a learning experience for the child.
Another source that I feel helps to characterize the general attitudes on child supervision during the 1950s is the film "Stand By Me". While not filmed in the 1950s "Stand By Me" is heavily based on a short story written by Stephen King that encompasses much of his experience growing up in the 1950s.
(3) A scene from "Stand By Me" in which the main characters are spending time together unsupervised away from their parents
In this particular scene, we see the main characters of the film all around the age of 12 spending time together without the presence of adult supervision. With this lack of supervision, these children are able to roam freely by themselves and engage in activities that are seldom found in today's youth such as smoking (3).
In my research of the following decade of the 1960s, much of the sources I found during my research reflected a changing mentality among those in positions of authority in regards to the supervision of children. The first source I would like to discuss is an article from 1963 entitled "Juvenile crime blamed on Parents".
In this article a police chief remarks on the dramatic increase in crime among youths between the ages of 11 and 18. The police chief then goes on to state that most of these cases of youth crime was perpetrated by youth who came from wealthy homes and that he believes the reason for this crime was a lack of parental supervision. In the text he is quoted as saying that "parents would save themselves lots of trouble and heartache if they only directed their children towards the healthy recreational activities of the YMCA, boy scouts and the city recreation department"(6). The notable part of this article is the way in which the police chief advocates for more structure for children as well as his blame on parents. What this seems to suggest is that there is a shift in attitude from the 1950s, the police chief clearly expresses the sentiment that a lack of structure and supervision can lead children to engage in dangerous behavior.
Another article from the 1960s that I feel reflects a similar sentiment is entitled "Supervision called key to rearing child".
Within this article, a concerned Judge expresses his problems with the ways in which many parents supervise their children. Like the police chief in the previous article, this judge makes the connection that most of the crime committed by juveniles is due to a lack of parental supervision. Beyond simply blaming parents for their children's behavior the judge remarks that "we have no clear-cut standards as far as our youth is concerned"(9). What stood out to me about this statement is that it shares another similarity with the police chief's argument that children need structure in order to avoid delinquency.
What I gathered from these sources was that the 1960s seemed to mark a time in which there was more of a push for the supervision of children. Authority figures in these two articles both criticize parents and begin to tie the criminal behavior of youths to a lack of structure and parental involvement. Notably, the judge in the second article mentions that there are no clear-cut standards for the nation's youth. Analyzing this statement from a historical point of view reveals a new factor in why the management of children in the 1950s was far more relaxed. During the 1950s the modern idea of the American family was a fairly new concept, as stated previously the rise of child labor laws began to sequester children from the adult world and form the concept of childhood as we know it today. With much of this transformation occurring in the early 20th century it makes sense that there would be a lack of clear-cut standards for supervising America's youth in the mid-20th century as children had only just recently become their own separate group.
Transitioning into the following decade of the 1970s I noticed another interesting trend in parental supervision and child safety. While the sources I found from the 1960s emphasized more parental supervision in order to prevent children from getting into trouble the 1970s seem to take the idea of more supervision and emphasize it even further. The movement I noticed in the 1970s was a concerned effort for Americans to supervise their children's toys. While this may appear unrelated to the overall topic of supervision I feel it marks a step further in the regulation of childhood. Instead of simply monitoring their children and preventing them from freely roaming, parents in the 1970s are starting to supervise more specific aspects of their childs life.
An article that I feel demonstrates this especially well is the article "Toy Safety: it's more than just a physical problem" published in 1975
(8) A young African American girl playing with a doll
This article mirrors much of the typical outcry from other toy safety-related articles I found in the 1970s however what this article emphasizes is the importance of parents to identify the psychological safety of the toys their children play with. A director of marketing and sales at a prominent toy company is consulted in this article over psychological damages that can come from certain toys, he goes on to state that toys can warp a child's self-perception , particularly in the context of race. The example he cites in the article is how the absence of African American dolls can alienate African American children and teach them self-hatred from an early age. He then notes that this push for more multiracial dolls and concern for the psychological effects of toys started to emerge due to "an increased self-awareness and self-pride that began emerging during the late 1960s" (8).
I felt that this article was necessary to include as it illustrates the birth of one of the more contemporary aspects of parental supervision. In modern times it is fairly common for parents to supervise and consider the psychological effects of the enrichment they give to their children. Speaking from personal experience my parents would consistently monitor my intake of media by banning me from watching certain shows or playing with specific toys out of fear that they would make me unintelligent or teach me poor morals.
The reason why this increase in supervision arose in the 1970s is slightly addressed in the article with it being attributed to the social movements in the 1960s. To elaborate on this theory I believe this connection makes sense as the 1960s marked a more socially conscious time in America. During the 1960s the civil rights movement had reached a nationwide effect with protests spanning the entire country. With how massive this movement was and the fact that the civil rights act was successfully passed in 1964 it would make sense for the parents of the following decade to carry the sentiment of the movement and more closely supervise the ways in which certain aspects of childhood can affect their children psychologically.
Within the 1980s and 1990s I feel this is when many of the modern parental attitudes towards supervision became solidified. Take for example the following article from the 1980s entitled "N.Va. Day Camps Teach Children Safety Precautions: Camps Teach Children About Safety" published in 1989.
In this article, a recent kidnapping has led camps to employ safer techniques by mandating for children to be picked up by adults when leaving. However, what makes this article stand out is how one of the camp counselors pushing for the increased safety met noticeable pushback from many parents who opposed these measures. The youth and family director of the camp Robb Wilmot was quoted as saying in reference to some of the parents "They are willing to pay anything to relieve themselves of 15 minutes of responsibility" and "we have parents who would love nothing better than to have kids wait at the corner of little river turnpike so they could just slow down and pick them up" (1). What makes this article notable to me is that it seems to show the change in attitude toward allowing children to roam free. While letting your children walk home alone was once an accepted practice in past decades we see that the camp director in this article is almost disgusted by it, seeing this behavior as negligent and irresponsible.
What followed in the 1990s was the implementation of various procedures and technologies to better assist in the monitoring and supervision of children. Take the Code Adam safety program for example, implemented in 1995 by various retail stores the system was made to ensure that children would be safely and quickly located in case they were separated from their parents (5). Another form of child management that began to arise during this time was the amber alert system which was implemented in 1996. This system was created as a way to alert the public of missing children by utilizing television, radio, and digital highway signs (4). What is interesting about the use of the amber alert system is that it required modern technology in order to function which starts to become a trend throughout the 2000s. While these two systems were not a limitation of children's independence they did represent a greater push in the American consciousness to emphasize the safety of children more.
In present day the rise in technology usage by Americans is one of the defining factors in the decrease in independence among children. In recent times the market for specific child-tracking devices has bolstered by an astounding rate. In the article "Consumer IoT Tracking Devices Enter the Mainstream" published in 2021 it is stated that the rate of tracking devices utilized by the American public is estimated to reach 68 million by 2026 with child trackers purported to be the highest install base (10) . Beyond the integration of new technology another factor in the increase in child supervision is the phenomenon of the helicopter parent. To put it simply helicopter parenting is a relatively recent style of parenting in which children are monitored very carefully by their parents. While this method undoubtedly has its detractors many of the sources I analyzed in the 21st century reflected on the style in a positive way. Take the article "The dawn and rewards of helicopter parenting", in the article a former dean of Stanford University states that "The vast majority of those kids who got into Stanford probably got in by virtue of helicopter parents," (11). This article opens the door for further reflection on why parental supervision increased over time. With helicopter parenting playing a major factor in college admissions it appears that the rise of college as an institution may have affected the amount of independence children received. As college historically became more and more important in the latter half of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century it would make sense that parents would attempt to steer their children towards it at an earlier age. I believe it is this emphasis placed on college that slowly restricted the independence children experienced as parents would want to monitor their children and push them into academically stimulating activities at a younger age instead of allowing them to roam free without supervision.
To summarize I have come to the conclusion that there was in fact a gradual decrease in childhood independence between the 1950s and the 2020s. Overall I feel the independence experienced by children was affected through a restriction of time spent unsupervised outside of the house, monitoring and regulation of toys due to psychological consideration by parents and the tracking of children through technology. It can be reasonably argued however that this trend does not extend into every household as there are notable exceptions. Within the 21st century there exist American parents who choose to fight against the diminishing independence of children through the practice of free-range parenting. While this counter-movement may exist overall it is clear that the majority of households in America have followed the more popular idea of restricting the independence of their children.
About the Author:
Ronan Hughes was born in New York City where he grew up in an apartment with his mother and father. In his childhood, he discovered a love for music through the influence of his father. He is currently a sophomore at Boston University where he is studying Advertising.
Bibliography:
1) Evans, Sandra. The Washington Post; N.Va. Day Camps Teach Children Safety Precautions: Camps Teach Children About Safety Washington, D.C. [Washington, D.C]. 09 July 1989: C1.
2) Frances, G; Ames, Louis. Daily Boston Globe;Child Behavior: Supervised Target Practice May Help 10-Year-Olds Boston, Mass. [Boston, Mass]. 28 Jan 1954: 4.
3) Reiner, Rob. 1986. Stand by Me. United States: Columbia Pictures.
4) Doug Schmidt Star Police Reporter with Star News Service files. Amber Alert program launched; Amber Alert launched; System will help police to find missing children faster: [Final Edition] The Windsor Star; Windsor, Ont. [Windsor, Ont]. 16 Jan 2003: A1 / Front.
5) Howell, David. Edmonton Journal; Code Adam: A store-wide response to a parent's worst nightmare -- when a child goes missing: [Final Edition] Edmonton, Alta. [Edmonton, Alta]. 25 Oct 2001: E1 / FRONT.
6) Los Angeles Times; "Juvenile crime blamed on parents"; 18 August 1963 https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/168409171/A8C3A2B90BE948F4PQ/19
7) Grose, Jessica; Rosin Hanna. Slate Magazine; "The Shortening Leash; 16 August 2014; https://www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2014/08/slate_childhood_survey_results_kids_today_have_a_lot_less_freedom_than_their.html
8) Odom, Karen. Chicago Defender; "Toy safety it's more than just a physical problem"; 20 December 1975; https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/493957266/FBE5E90CAB004A18PQ/19
9) Jane, Sarah. Chicago Tribune; "Supervision called key to rearing child"; 14 September 1968; https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/168838818/A8C3A2B90BE948F4PQ/14
10) PR Newswire; "Consumer IoT Tracking Devices Enter the Mainstream to Reach 68 Million Units by 2026: Tracking children, the elderly, and pets is becoming the new normal for safety"; 24 June 2021; https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/2544387916/5476F3B5E54849E2PQ/16?accountid=9676
11) Hartnett, Kevin. Boston Globe (online); "The dawn (and rewards) of helicopter parenting"; 10 June 2016; https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/1795541364/3223680EAFE343F2PQ/8?accountid=9676&parentSessionId=Eucu34ugJ7oZeEnj2DFujUjw17Gfv7Xs8rqaZUq3itw%3D
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