I just thought this take on childhood was fascinating. It talks about the historical context of the concept of childhood. For example:
It is around this same time that another change was occurring - this one a shift in attitude. In the early seventeenth century, there did not seem to be the same emphasis on sexual decency and propriety that we see in later years (Aries, 1962). People were not shocked by coarse jokes and sexual games with children (e.g., attempting to grab a child’s genitals). Children under the age of puberty were simply not considered aware of sexual matters. Nobody thought that sexual references could corrupt a child’s innocence because the idea of childish innocence did not yet exist (Aries, 1962).
