** United States boys clothes: activities -- institutions








United States Boys' Clothes: Institutions


Figure 1.-- One institution which America help to found was the summer camp. The initial idea was to get city kids out into the fresh air and sunshine. Both the YMCA and the Boy Scouts played an important role in the summer camp movement. The American summer was an institution subsequently adopted in many other countries. This is a Jewish summer camp in 1951.

There are a wide range of institutions which are involved with children. The most obvious is of course schools. And America created one of the most succesful public schools in the world which help to educate no only American-born children, but to being immigrant children into the American mainstream. America did not create public education, although few countries did it as well. While American schools are similar to other countries, one destinctive school type ws the military boarding school. Tragically that system today has lost much of its vitality. One institution which America help to found was the summer camp. The initial idea was to get city kids out into the fresh air and sunshine. Both the YMCA and the Boy Scouts played an important role in the summer camp movement. The American summer was an institution subsequently adopted in many other countries. We also notice different kinds of charity borganizations like orphanages. Mostvstates have done away with orphanages, but they played an important role in the 19th and early-20th century. We do not see as many health sanatoriums as in Europe. Another type of institutional facility were reformatories for youthful offenders.

Schools

There are a wide range of institutions which are involved with children. The most obvious is of course schools. And America created one of the most succesful public schools in the world which help to educate no only American-born children, but to being immigrant children into the American mainstream. America did not create public education this first appeared in Europe in the German state, although few countries did it as well. While American schools are similar to other countries, one destinctive school type ws the military boarding school. Tragically that system today has lost much of its vitality. And is failing many children, especially minority children. And this is the case despite many systems being run by minority politicans and administrators or liberal whites who claim to be acting in the interest of minority groups. American school children, with some exceptions, have not worn school uniforms. America's parochial school children have worn uniforms--although I'm not sure when uniforms were introduced. Private school children--especially America's elite private schools modeled on British preparatory and public schools--also had uniforms. Quite a substantial number of children were involved in the parochial schools, but the number of private school children until recently has been much more limited. American public (state) school children have not worn uniforms, although quite a number of public schools have begun to study the issue. Many in the 1990s have begun instituting non-compulsory uniform policies.

Recreational Institutions

There are several active youth recreational institutins in America. They have become increasingly important as America became more affluent an parents tended to favorvcloser supervision of children. One institution which America help to found was the summer camp. Summer camp now is a long established ritual for American boys which has roots in the late 19th century. The initial idea was to get city kids out into the fresh air and sunshine. Both the YMCA and the Boy Scouts played an important role in the summer camp movement. The American summer was an institution subsequently adopted in many other countries. Youth groups are another important institution. They had broad programs for children. Summer camps were only one of those programs. They were particularly important before and after World War II, but have declined in recent years. Inceasingly important since the end of World War II and the move into the suburbs has been the appearnce of youth sports league like Little League Baseball. Little League became popular because primary (elementary) schools tended not to have sports programs like secondary schools. Soccer leagues in recent years have become even more important than Little League baseball. There are also youth football laegues, but are not as important as youth baseball and soccer leagues. School sports are particularly important in America, but this is primarily for the athletically gifted and has less of a recetional character than sports leagues. This is a situation that differs from most other countries, except perhaps Canada.

Charity Institutions

We also notice different kinds of charity organizations. One of the most important historically are orphanages. Most states have done away with orphanages, but they played an important role in the 19th and early-20th century. The situation in America was somewhat different than Britain, in part because the the Frontier and a less strict class system offered opportunities that were not available to the British poor. There was no national workhouse system in America. This was an issue addressed by local governments. The workhouse or house of correction in the United States is not a feature of the poor-law system of a commonwealth, but of its system of penology. It is usually a developed or modified county jail. The nearest American approach to such a test of aid-deserving poverty as the English workhouse is found in the woodyards and laundries maintained by charity organization societies. One unique American institution was the settlement homes to assist immigrant children and their families. A pareucularly important charity is the Red Cross.

Health Institutions

There are a range of health/medical institutions. These unlike schools, orphanages, camps, reformatories and other instututions are not specifically for children. The most important of course are hospitals. There are a wide range of hospitals, inclusing private, religious affiliated, state and charity. There are also specialized hospitals, such as children's hospitals. We note what was described as a children's hospital on Randall's Island in New York City, but are not quite sure what to make of it. There are also santoria which were more common in former times (19h and early-20th century) when tuberulosus was such a major health problem. There are also facilities for those suffering from mental illness or mental retardation. These institutions have in the past been veritable hell holes. Much improvement has been made in recent years, but there is a baic problem that the nature of these disorders often makes institutional care demanding and expensive. They were often called state hospitals. We do not see as many health sanatoriums as in Europe, at least in the photographic record. We are not sure why that was.

Correctional Institutions

Another type of institutional facility were reformatories for youthful offenders. America generally referred to institutions dealing with juvenile delinquents and other difficult children as reformatories. The actual names of specific refornatories varied widely. There were no national system of reformatories, but rather each state had their own system. Many charity groups set up instituions to deal with orphaned children, but reformatories were for children who usually had parents. They were designed to handle children deamed incorigible, but not yet convicted of serious crimes. This varied as children with bekhavioral problems such as truancy might be mixed with children running away from abusive parenys or children involved with petty crimes. Or there might be some children who had committed serious crimes, but because of their youth were not committed to adult prisons.







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Created: 12:48 AM 7/19/2010
Last updated: 5:07 AM 7/24/2019