1. How does the author (Ariès) see the concept of childhood?

- He sees the concept of childhood as a newly discovered idea, something, at least according to
him, that didn't exist in and before medieval times.
- He felt the families back then didn't really appreciate children and the value and importance
they brought into society.
- According to him, childhood was seen as just a normal phase in life that carried the same
level of importance as any other (as opposed to how its seen now)

2. What factors contributed to the formation of that concept?

- Age : back then people did not know or care about their age or date of birth, possibly why
they didn't understand the importance of childhood. He says that wanting to know your date
of birth is a recent development driven by what he called “curios passion”
- Child mortality becoming obsolete : the high child mortality rate made it a lot harder to
discover the concept of childhood. Because children would die so often and at a young age,
parents didn't see the need to get too attached to them. With so many children dying at such a
young age, it left no time or even enough children to observe and “discover childhood”. When
the child mortality rates started to decline, children started becoming more important. They
were being displayed, front and center in portraits, and on the rare occasion they would die
young, they were actually being mourned for.

3. What are some changes in the concept of childhood that the author describes?
- Culture of childhood : this new culture made people take more of an interest in the words
children said. There were some things that adults and children used to do together, like they
were enjoyed by both of them. Because people didn't see a difference in children and adults,
this is why. Now, things like fairytales and trick-or-treating are now only for children, as the
difference becomes more distinct.
- Children and sex : People's attitudes toward child sexuality was much more relaxed before the
17th century. After that the idea of coddling a child came into light to protect their sexual
innocence

4. What aspects contributed to the emergence of the concept of childhood?

- Disciplinary schooling : Education had quite the influence of childhood. Now we see it as
normal for children to go to school at a young age, with others too, and for the work to get
harder and harder each year. Nowadays it can be seen as deviant behaviour if a child was to
do otherwise. But in those days, their approach to education was much different, only few
people were educated. People back then were very religious, so the only educational system
available was the cathedral school. Eventually ‘schools’ were created and teachers started
separating people based on their age. This aided in identifying the importance of childhood
phases. Again we can see modernity affecting the discovery of childhood. Medieval schools
made no distinction between adults and children. They were all the same, and there was no
need to separate them. Modern schools like to divide the adults and children, because children
are inferior to adults and need supervision

5. How has the conception of the child changed over time? (describe at least 3 aspects)
- People used to see children as just miniature versions of adults. They were no different and
could be treated as such. They could do the same things and were expected to. Now they are
seen as their own people. They aren’t expected to do what adults do.
 - Societies back then placed a lot more importance on the collective rather than the individual.
Once people started distancing themselves from others and living their own private lives, the
child became the center of attention
- Children were seen as people who wouldn't live past a certain age. It was normal for them to
die at a young age, and people wouldn't get too attached to them. But now child mortality is
rare and people put their children first in most aspects of life.

6. What are some of the criticisms other authors have made to Ariès? Why
- Critics argued that medieval societies did have an understanding of childhood, although it was
not great and fully accepted, they understood it nonetheless. The only reason we are able to
say they didn't not have an understanding of childhood, is because we do. If we didn't know
anything about it, then we would not have the knowledge, nor the credibility to argue
medieval societies did not understand childhood.
- A criticism is that he used aesthetic artifacts like artworks as evidence. Although he does
sometimes use schools and laws to prove his reasoning, most of his paintings and poems.
They criticise this because the problem lies in thinking that the artwork of that time was an
accurate representation and reflection of life.