Tom Longson (nym) wrote: > I love this map of how a family over time has changed in terms of their > children (at age 8) distance to roam. > > Great Grandfather: 8 miles (to go fishing) > Grandfather: 1 mile (to the woods) > Mother: 1/2 a mile (to the local pool) > Son: 300 yards (end of the street)
In 1842 when Sweden passed its first law on compulsory schooling, the school was set to start at age 7, not because that is an appropriate age to start learning, but because that was the age when kids in the countryside could walk alone the 8 kilometres to school, and this was how dense they could afford to build schools at the time. That is they "had the strength" to walk that distance, not whether they (or their parents) dared. This might be anecdotal. I don't know any written sources, but I heard this on radio the other week, just being mentioned as part of another discussion. Of course there was education before 1842, especially for the wealthier and for people living in some more enlightened parts of the country. What was new in 1842 was forcing every municipality/parish in the country to provide schools for their children, and then for the municipality/parish to force the parents to send their children to school. There were no railways or bicycles at the time. The poorest people, who tended to live far from the central church village, didn't afford horses. And they couldn't leave work to follow their children to school. So I guess the "age of walking alone" could be an important factor. -- Lars Aronsson ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Aronsson Datateknik - http://aronsson.se _______________________________________________ Geowanking mailing list [email protected] http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking
