Working children in victorian times

1. Working children in victorian times By : Alessio Antonangeli

2. How many of you always complain because you don’t want to go to school?

3. You should know that in victorian times only rich children went to school. Poor children had to go to work or steal.

4. Children and factories Most of the workers in factories were poor children starting from 4-5 year olds. Their lives were hard. They had to work for long hours and gottreatedwithcruelty. In match factories, children had to dipmatches in a chemicalcalledphosphorous. That wouldrottentheirteeth and some unlucky children died because theybreatheditintotheirlungs.

6. Children and mills Oftenorphans were taken to millswheretheywould help the master to work. Theyworkedfor long hours and didn’t havefresh air or excercise, theyspenttheirSundaycleaning the machines. Some children had theirhandscrushedwhileworkingwith the machines and some died because theyfell in the machineswhile sleeping.

8. Children and coal mines Coal mines weren’t verynice , roofsoftencollapsed and workers gotallkinds of injuries. All the works that are nowdonebymachines were donebymen, women or children. Some children were “asked” to open the doorswhentheyheard the vagons were coming. In order to do this job they had to sit down in dark and dampplaces and pull a rope to open the doorwhen the vagons were coming. Then luckily in 1842 the Mines Act stopped children from working in the mines under the age of 12.

10. Children and chimneys During victorian times children were alsousedaschimneysweeps because they were verysmall and theywouldfit inside the chimney. Children suffered many cuts, grazes and bruises on their knees, elbows and thighs however after months of suffering their skin became hardened.

12. Children and the countryside Poor families who lived in the countryside were also forced to send their children out to work. Seven and eight year olds could work as bird scarers, out in the fields from four in the morning until seven at night.

14. The new era forworking children Ittook a long timeforthings to change because nobodythought that itwas a bad thingfor children to work. Lord Shaftesburywasone of the first to make people understand that children shouldn’t work or miss school.