The speeches about children’s education and hygienization on the newspapers printed in Piauí, Brazil (1930-1960)

Abstract

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14244/198271991160

Piauí, Brazil, in the first half of the twentieth century, was expanding its modernization process. For showing a picture of full development, it was necessary to educate and to take care of children, who were considered the nation's future, because, due to neglect, there was a growth in rates of child mortality. The goal of this study focuses on highlighting the measures adopted by the state for the education and cares over children. Considering this context, this study highlights the childhood in Piauí and has as starting point the 1930s, a period of great evidence to infancy, ending in 1960, when discussions focus on the child-problem, discourses circulated in printed newspapers at that time in Piauí (O Piauhy, Diário Oficial e O Dia). To perform this study, considering the historical nature of the work, the theoretical research is based on the New Cultural History, that privileges the life history of common people, their daily lives, and their mindsets. The results indicate that social policies were created to improve this framework. The awareness of mothers in the care over children was held in campaigns promoted by the state, as robustness contests, courses of childcare for mothers and of hygiene and nutrition, as well as advertisements of products that transmitted these cares, in order to improve the vision of development in Piauí.

Keywords: Education, Childhood, Newspapers, Piauí.