The Discussion About the Family in Polish Newspapers and Magazines in the Second Half of the 19 th and at the Beginning of the 20 th Century

The second half of the 19th century brought about a number of political, economic, and social changes in the Polish lands under Russian, Prussian, and Austrian rule. The new situation resulted in a number of social problems that required solutions and support. First of all, attention was drawn to the aims and the obligations of the family related to the responsibility for the upbringing of children. A number of problems was connected to the issue of the family; they were the matters of social, economic, educational, and healthand hygiene-related nature. Individuals, societies, and monasteries would support the family or take responsibility for its obligations. “In the times of the Partitions of Poland and foreign rule the terms ‘społecznik’ (‘social worker’) and ‘społecznictwo’ (‘social work’) were coined. These areas were uninfluenced by the policies of the foreign governments or even contrary to them. The term ‘social service’, originating in Western Europe, comes into use in the 1880s. Its meaning is altered according to the specificity of our national


Social service and its goals related to the family
The second half of the 19 th century brought about a number of political, economic, and social changes in the Polish lands under Russian, Prussian, and Austrian rule.The new situation resulted in a number of social problems that required solutions and support.First of all, attention was drawn to the aims and the obligations of the family related to the responsibility for the upbringing of children.A number of problems was connected to the issue of the family; they were the matters of social, economic, educational, and healthand hygiene-related nature.Individuals, societies, and monasteries would support the family or take responsibility for its obligations."In the times of the Partitions of Poland and foreign rule the terms 'społecznik' ('social worker') and 'społecznictwo' ('social work') were coined.These areas were uninfluenced by the policies of the foreign governments or even contrary to them.The term 'social service', originating in Western Europe, comes into use in the 1880s.Its meaning is altered according to the specificity of our national Meninis ugdymas: tradicija, kaita, inovacijos climate.It is substantially broader, and what is more, it is directly connected with the obligation to Poland, the 'sacred love of the beloved Fatherland', which makes it a necessity to devote oneself to the highest value with utmost humility" (Radwan-Pragłowski, Frysztacki, 2009).What needs to be emphasised in the above quotation is the postulate to educate the entire society in the name of higher values, with patriotism -understood as the service of the educated (and patriotic) part of the Polish society to those in need of help and support, with the variety of its forms all aimed at preventing denationalisation -among them."Our future citizens' work that we are preparing for now makes it our obligation to gain knowledge of all the phenomena of social and national life.We must be familiar with social and national life thoroughly enough to allow our actions to address actual requirements of the moment and the conditions in which we are to act.While reaching new levels of spiritual development, shaping our character, and forming our will, let us make certain that we possess the ability to realise our ideals in life the very minute we enter social, citizens' activity" (Mickiewicza, 1909, p. 53).The way to the realisation of important goals led through the creation of better life conditions for the poorest social groups.Economic postulates were strictly related to educational aims, with the offer for the family -especially children and youth -among them.
How to protect a child's health?How to organise care for the children left unattended during their parents' working hours?How to organise the leisure time of children and youth?How to prepare the young generation for adult life?How to shape the life of values within the family?What are the forms of support for the young people who have already committed criminal offences?These are only a few of the questions that the activists and the leaders of social life had to face.They also constitute practical goals, starting with the awakening of social awareness of the necessity to provide particular support for thousands of families to the achievement of the planned aims.The arousing of social conscience was intended to attract more and more social workers as well as causing a broader financial support for the undertaken actions.
At the turn of the 19 th and the 20 th century the columns of numerous newspapers and magazines were used to present the problems of the family and children.They were published in the form of articles, voices in discussions, reports about the work of societies and particular institutions.The authors would introduce the ways to organise support for families and they would publicise examples of individuals who engaged in various forms of work for the needy.
The present paper is a continuation and a development of the problems discussed in by the author in the article titled "Rodzina i jej obowiązki wobec najmłodszych na łamach prasy przełomu XIX i XX w." [The family and its responsibilities pertaining to children in the press at the break of the 19 th and 20 th century]1 .
In the analysis of the press articles published in the second half of the 19 th century and the beginning of the 20 th century a number of subjects connected with the functioning of the family and the situation of children can be discerned.
The following problems can be formulated herein: To what extent were the subjects related to the family mentioned in the selected newspapers?What was the educational offer for families, children, and youth?
It was frequent in press publications that questions related to the employment of women were addressed.In 1900 J. Moszczeńska wrote that "the legions of female workers who abandon their little infants and, together with their husbands and brothers, undertake exhausting work only to win a slice of stale bread, who spend all their days in the field or at a factory doing chores that often endanger their health, and who do not have nursemaids and nannies to take care of their children do not do it all out of lack of maternal feelings" (Moszczeńska, 1900, p. 108).Together with the intensive social and economic changes taking place since the 1850s the connection between the lack of presence of mothers in their homes and the upbringing of children was noticed."Nobody has the right to doubt the fact that maternal duties are the holiest of all women's obligations", claimed J. Moszczeńska (1900, p. 108).In her opinion "in taking care of children, especially those in their early infancy, nobody can be a sufficient substitute for a good and sensible mother, for it is the value, the type of this care that the health and the entirety of the development of future generations depend on, which is why any work that takes a mother away from the cradle, regardless of its results, is harmful to the society" (Moszczeńska, 1900, p. 108).As the author of the article emphasises, "there was a strong opposition to all pursuits of the emancipation of women" (Moszczeńska, 1900, p. 108), a number of arguments was advanced against their employment, however, "they would only relate to middle class women who could become a potential competition for men in highly profitable occupations".J. Moszczeńska maintains that "at the same time without any fights or disputes, without any slogans in favour or against emancipation, the female masses were forced into hired labour.Nobody was opposed, nobody defended the orphaned domestic hearths, nobody protested in the name of children against this harmful emancipation, with its source lying not in the books of the reformers, not in the desire of knowledge, freedom, or wealth, but in the hard necessity caused by poverty" (Moszczeńska, 1900, p. 108).

The situation of children in families requiring support
The questions addressed in press columns and related to the family would often interweave with those connected with the situation of children -malnourished, deprived of proper living conditions, care, and sufficient upbringing and education."In order to serve society one must love it and devote one's spiritual and intellectual powers to it.Yet, we frequently come across individuals devoid of the energy to act, the understanding of life's obligations -one day they launch into the most serious of undertakings, the next day they look for distractions, only to grow disaffected and commit suicide.Numerous factors are responsible for the creation of such types -one of them is definitely the family life that does not fulfil our needs" (Herzberżanka, 1906, p. 677).According to the author of the lengthy cited article many cases of the dissolution of families with their negative effect on the upbringing of children can be noticed.The atmosphere of mutual hatred between the parents, of constant arguments and quarrels, creates a climate in which "the individuals led by the less noble of instincts adopt to the surrounding conditions and grow up to be the image and likeness of their parents -cold, devoid of feelings.Such individuals are scorned and pitied as mankind's burden on its way to perfection" (Herzberżanka, 1906, p. 678).
The family and children required care in the economic aspect, which would often become a priority, as well as in relation to education of the parents and the young ones.
However, the parents would frequently become the cause of the incorrect upbringing of children.The problem was addressed in the columns of "Zorza" ("Aurora").According to an author "one of the most important issues relating to all the small farmers is the question of the pasturing of cattle" (Malinowski, 1893, p. 1).
It was, in fact, the obligation of the youngest children but, as the author emphasises, "this silly habit has been the origin of yet another one, i.e. that our schools are often closed for half of the year" (Malinowski, 1893, p. 1).The problem lay not only in children's absence in school -the author claimed that there were also moral problems to be taken into account.The children left without parental guidance "in the fields often develop into perfect cunning rascals, blasphemers, and wrong-doers who frequently become adult thieves, rustlers, and other destructive members of society (Malinowski, 1893, p. 1).
The above questions discussed by authors in the columns of "Bluszcz" ("The Ivy"), "Nowe Tory" ("New Ways"), and "Zorza" do not cover all the debated subjects."When a child has parents it will usually be brought up and it may be certain to find a piece of daily bread.It is quite different with orphans" (Radomczyk, 1896, p. 35).The author writes about the obligation that the society has to take care of orphans and he encourages entire families to undertake the effort to bring up the children without parents.
The discussions about dysfunctional families, the mistakes in the upbringing of children and youth were accompanied by ideas for concrete solutions to these problems.A number of institutions organising help and support for families was addressed.The fact that institutional and diverse support for the family was initiated needs to be emphasised.In the second half of the 19 th and at the beginning of the 20 th century the institutions, whose aims are to be presented, became the rudiment of the system of support for the family which was about to be developed and expended in the times of the Second Republic of Poland.The organisation of institutions was accompanied by the proposal of the pedagogic theory in which the scientific basis of the work with families and children Meninis ugdymas: tradicija, kaita, inovacijos is introduced.While the problems of the contemporary care are evident, it needs to be emphasised that it used to rely on the labour of social workers and society's charity.The government (the national) solutions, e.g., the legal ones, blazed trails in citizens' consciousness.In relation to the Polish society there was the threat of denationalisation and incorporation into the German or the Russian nation.That is why it was necessary to inspire Poles to actively provide help to those who needed it.
In the general analysis of the institutions discussed above a modern division can be employed, so that the institutions of partial and complex care are discerned.Centres specialising in infant care (nurseries), pre-school institutions (shelters, kindergartens, gymnastics centres, and preschools), schools (the centre of gymnastics, games and craftsmanship), care for orphans (foster families, shelters, orphanages), care for the youth who have committed criminal offences as well as the centres organising leisure time for children and youth (e.g., Jordan's gardens, Rau's gardens).

Care and education institutions for infants
The first nurseries for infants were organised by charity societies in Warsaw and Kraków, among others.They brought help to the working women by providing day care for babies (The 2.07.1924 bill on the protection of the employment of youth and women made it a requirement to found nurseries at all the factories with over 100 female workers.The disposition of the Minister of Labour and Social Services from 11.03.1927 on the organisation and maintenance of nurseries in places of work referred to, among others, the question of organisation and maintenance of nurseries and the control of the Labour Inspection and the Health Care Offices over the correctness of the establishment and the work of the nurseries (Leśniewska, 1931).Information about a nursery in Warsaw can be found in article published in "Wieniec" ("The Wreath") (Pietrusiński, 1858, p. 283).In the short column ("Dom przytułku dla niemowląt.Żłobek" -"Shelter for infants.Nursery") one can read that on December 24 1857 a nursery for children aged 6 weeks to 3 years was opened.Mothers could bring their infants at 5 am and pick them up in the evening, even as late as 8 pm.A similar institution named "Dom sierot i ochrona małych dzieci" (Shelter for orphans and infants) functioned at the so-called "szkółka Jachowicza" ("Jachowicz's little school") in Nowy Świat (a street in Warsaw).
While in the press there was little information on the subject of nurseries, many columns were dedicated to the establishment of children's shelters in towns and cities as well as in the country.(Information was published in such periodicals as "Bluszcz", "Szkoła" ("School"), "Przegląd pedagogiczny" ("Pedagogic review"), "Tygodnik Mód i Powieści" ("Fashion and Novels Weekly"), "Zdrowie" ("Health"), "Czas" ("Time"), "Zorza", "Tygodnik Ilustrowany" ("The Weekly Illustrated Magazine"), "Głos", "Przegląd Tygodniowy" ("Weekly Review") and others).In the articles it was emphasised that providing organised care for children aged 3 to 7 was necessary since "the one and only means to prevent accidents was the founding of children's shelters" ("Zorza", 1896, p. 443).The aim to provide children with care and to protect them from unfortunate accidents was often invoked and it constituted the main concern of the founders of the shelters.The infants spent a part of the day under the guardianship of women chosen among the most honourable ones and skilled in organising children's time.During their stay at the shelter the children received a meal (or meals), and the poorest children and their parents were occasionally given clothes.The subject of didactic and educational work was rarely discussed in press publications.It was the result of the concern that the foreign governments could develop an interest in the shelters, which could have led to the closing of the institutions that were few to begin with.On the basis of the scarce pieces of information it can be concluded that children were taught prayers and songs, they would listen to stories, learn poems by heart, draw and -what appears to have been the subject of special attention -spend their leisure time outside (outings and games).Not only were the children's shelters intended as care centres, as it was officially declared by the organisers -they would also take over a planned organisation of didactic and educational work with infants, which was modelled on the activity of kindergartens.
Initiated by A. Cieszkowski and E. Bojanowski, the children's shelters in villages in the Polish lands under the Prussian government (Greater Poland region) developed a model of a care and education institution in which children would play under the supervision of shelter employees, study the catechism, learn to read and draw, and practise poems and songs.A part of each day was dedicated to gardening or some work for the shelter, depending on the weather.
The society's strong commitment to the organisation of children's shelters in cities, towns, and villages brought substantial results.The chain of these institutions grew rapidly and more and more children were given care.But it was not only the care aspect that was important.Elements of planned didactic and educational work were included.The shelter became a crucial element of material support and the education of entire families through the everyday contacts of the guardians and the shelter employees with mothers.
It can be clearly stated that the children's shelters became institutions dedicated to the entire impoverished population.
In the 19 th century the educational ideas of J. F. Froebel -who was named a friend and a caregiver of children, and whose "never tiring active mind was always working to find ways to establish new kindergartens that allowed the young to play and to simultaneously learn works fitting their early age and that constituted the first school in their lives" (Stradom, 1884, p. 308) -became increasingly popular in the Polish lands.According to the new ideas in pedagogy a clearly defined didactic and educational programme, with a noticeable influence of the postulates of preschool pedagogy, was implemented in the kindergartens.Froebel, among others, emphasised that the work in kindergartens is a form of support for the family in the upbringing of children.Precise descriptions of Meninis ugdymas: tradicija, kaita, inovacijos children's games, toys, and activities were published in the press in order to encourage female readers to use them at home.While in the lands of the Kingdom of Poland under the Russian government the organisers of kindergartens (W.Skłodowska, T. Mleczko, M. Weryho-Radziwiłłowiczowa, and others) pursued their aims with the use of their own financial means or those of their parents, in Galicia the Austrian government and the Rada Szkolna Krajowa (National School Council) recognised kindergartens as an important form of care and education of infants.This fact was taken into account in the 1868 school bill, in which it was stated that kindergartens ought to be established together with public schools.
At the beginning of the 20 th century the idea of preschool education, based on the pedagogy of M. Montessori and O. Decroly, emerges in the Polish lands.The idea was propagated by N. Cicimirska, the headmaster of a kindergarten in Lwów (since 1913), who wrote: "The main goal of preschool education should be to foster the psychophysical development of children.Our nurseries (i.e.kindergartens S.W.) and children's shelters could not until now have reached the level of similar institutions abroad.We lack proper buildings, support, and qualified children's shelter employees" (Cicimirska, 1925, p. 32).The questions of preschool education in the following years would more and more often become the subject of discussion in the press.The debated issues proved the importance of the new institutions for infants and the necessity to transform the existing children's shelters and kindergartens on the basis of the contemporary preschool pedagogy.
At the beginning of the 20 th century the situation of many children led to the establishment of a completely new institution -emergency children's shelters.The author of an article presenting the activity of such a shelter in Warsaw writes: "I shall not speak of those happy children whose wealthy and enlightened parents provide them with loving and skilful care since the first moments of their lives, nor of the children whose lives are spent between the children's rooms in the city and the seaside or a summer residence in the country, I shall speak of the children of basements and attics, the children of the street" (Krysiński, 1912, p. 895).The emergency children's shelters were intended for children aged 3-4, who, temporarily devoid of care, got lost in the city."It often happens that nobody asks after a child, nobody comes for him or her, then, after a time, the child becomes a permanent boarder and a pupil of the institution and after a doctor's examination he or she is sent to the so-called orphanage" (Krysiński, 1912, p. 895) -an institution of complex care."The lives of all these little ones -writes dr Krysiński -are spent in pain and misfortune, they become a tragedy for the child's soul.So here there are the children found in the street whom nobody would recognise, at best they can say their names, but they do not have surnames.Furthermore, there is the numerous category of the orphaned infants: some widow, a washerwoman, who with the labour of her bloodied hands had managed to provide for a flock of little ones before she was defeated by a severe illness and taken to a hospital.And there are sadder cases, proofs of yet greater misfortune of children: distant relatives who bring up children, stepmothers and stepfathers, or even biological parents torment and abuse children so relentlessly that they are forced to run away" (Krysiński, 1912, p. 895).If they are lucky they can make it to the emergency children's shelter and to the aforementioned orphanage.
For school age children (7-14) the so-called practical skills rooms were organisedthey were dedicated to those left out in the streets due to a lack of places in schools.The first initiative of this sort emerged in Warsaw.In the rooms, under the supervision of adults, young boys busied themselves with manual works, "proper for their age and strength: the younger ones (aged 7-9) would make straw hats, bottle sacks, and things out of glued cardboard, the older ones (9-12) would make string bags and nets, rattan chairs, and they would be introduced to basic works connected with shoemaking and woodworking, apart from these the younger and the older children would draw and make models" (Konopczyński, 1897, p. 38).Although these simple activities were intended to prepare children for further vocational education their crucial aim was to "protect the boys who come to the rooms from moral decadence and to give them shelter for the day and to foster their good qualities" (Konopczyński, 1897, p. 38).The issues of education in the Warsaw institution relied on religious instruction, because it was assumed that it is beneficial to the morality of children if their time is divided between practical skills training and education.
The care for the young generation, often devoid of positive family models, became an inspiration for the work of H. Jordan."The youth who are growing up were a material that he took into his hands to shape it into works of art -and he wanted masterworksinto works of physical and spiritual courage.The children of big cities -sad, pale flowers, growing out of stone pavements, cut off from the pulse of nature's youth, put too early into the harness of intellectual of physical labour, prone to all temptations and filth and yet lacking protective emotional strength -these children were the subjects of his care and love.It was for them that he created his Park, an institution invaluable, democratic, uniting the young sons of workers and aristocracy in a single rhythm of gymnastics, song, and work; it was for them that he created the natural, joyous, and rich life with its breath of freedom, inspiring beauty, and the ideal" ("Critique", 1907, p. 559).The aim of the Park was to "educate and bring up children (aged 5.5 and younger) to be moral and religious human beings and citizens beneficial to the society and the country" (Filiński, 1891, p. 45).It was stated in the columns of "Krytyka" ("Critique") that Jordan managed to "save hundreds and thousands of boys and girls from the confinement and torment of the family homes which were no longer the proverbial homes of love and virtue" ("Critique", 1907, p. 559).The Park was organised in Kraków.On June 21 1889 during the meeting of the City Council it was decided to grant the space after an exhibition to H. Jordan (Cicimirska, 1925, p. 32) so that the founding father could organise a place to be used for a few hours of daily ("after dinner") games and physical exercises.
In 1903 a similar initiative emerged in Warsaw -these were the W.E. Rau Gardens that in their activity concentrated on physical education of children and youth.The idea was produced in 1899 by the Society for Hygiene.The organisation and then the work would take place in 8-14 gardens located around the city, which provided the opportunity to play outside -or in a gym in winter -and to practise gymnastics, singing, and to go swimming (Szycówna, 1904;Rottermund, 1908;"Zdrowie", 1909;Karp-Rottermund, 1910).
Both the initiatives, the Warsaw-and the Kraków-based ones, emerged among doctors, who understood the importance of physical exercise for children and youth and the positive influence of games -including team games -on the shaping of the attitudes of the young generation.
The interest of the social workers in care and education would also concentrate on a large group of children and youth who committed criminal offences or whose behaviour attracted the attention of the police and courts of law.

Educational and reformatory institutions for children
It was often the case that the attitude of the family and the lack of proper living conditions forced children to commit crimes.The authors of press articles presented numerous examples of situations in which a child with no better perspectives in life chooses to, e.g., engage in theft.Here is one of the examples: in Warsaw on one of the properties surrounded by a poor wooden fence there stood three "little, flimsy, shapeless huts.In one of the huts there lived a family of seven.The father of the five children, a bakery apprentice, could hardly support the family at all due to his drunkenness; the mother, out of necessity, would sew bags and other crude things, but this work brought only a small income that could not lessen then severe poverty" ("Family Chronicle", 1874, p. 201).The economic situation of the family and the lack of care for the oldest 12-years-old boy led him to spend a month stealing from basements and pantries, together with a group of his friends.And what "was going on with the parents while their children were engaged in such excesses?It is true that mothers in their naivety often used to say -my boy, he is truly a smart kid, he'll make his way in the world.If parents' indifference to the crimes of their children is not an unforgivable sin then what shall we call a father who pushes his own child into misdemeanour?"("Family Chronicle", 1874, p. 201).
In 1874 in the Kingdom of Poland "800 criminals younger than 17 were brought to courts of law.We must admit that the number is substantial and it is all the more worrying, because, with time, this proletariat, these lost children, lacking any direction and sensible care, shall grow into archenemies of private property, order, and public safety -as exemplified by many cases" ("Family Chronicle", 1874, p. 201).
Bearing in mind this category of children and youth the "Towarzystwo Osad Rolnych i Przytułków Rzemieślniczych" ("The Society of Farming Villages and Craftsmen's Shelters") was established in 1868.Józef Wieczorkowski, a former judge in an appeal court, was the initiator of the Society; its founding father was prince Lubomirski, and its first chairman -J.Mianowski ("The Voice", 1888).In 1874 the Society organised an institution in Studzieniec, which was aimed at "bringing back into society its young members corrupted by crime" (Rerum, 1875, p. 180).In cooperation with the Russian government it was decided that the courts of the Kingdom of Poland would send juvenile delinquents to the institution in Studzieniec for correction and education.
A similar place was established for girls in Józefów near Warsaw -it was named the Reformatory for girls lacking moral education.There, "60 female boarders learn various skills, practice doing housework, or, if they lack talent and abilities, work the fields" ("Kronika Rodzinna", 1890, p. 641).Labour was emphasised as a part of educational work, because it was believed to be "in and of itself a moralising factor.First and foremost it is the aim of the institution to teach the girls fair rules, to uproot bad habits, or, to put it simply, to reform the girls who stay here" ("Kronika Rodzinna",1890, p. 641).Not only were similar organisations set up in the Kingdom of Poland -they were also established in Galicia, e.g., in Stary Sącz.
The questions of improper upbringing of children and the lack of care were also mentioned in the columns of the periodical "Powściągliwość i Praca" ("Temperance and Work").It was stated: "it is frequently the case that the intentions of the merciful Providence are defied by the ill will of parents.A father is led astray, he becomes a drunk or even a murderer and a criminal.A mother forgets her honourable calling and sacred duties to indulge in a life of wantonness; she neglects her home and children, and she often leaves them and runs away.Sometimes the parents' helplessness is the obstacle" (Michułka, 1910, p. 34).The discussed lack of fulfilment of the duties of numerous families and addressing the problems of the family and the upbringing of children in press columns led to such reflection as: because of "the many physical deformities, moral decadence, and the horrifying increase in crime among the young" (A participant.The issue of the education of neglected children, 1910, p. 1) it is indispensible that society participates more actively in the care for neglected children.
One of the initiatives dedicated to orphans and neglected children was the "Towarzystwo Powściągliwość i Praca" ("The Temperance and Work Society"), started by pr.B. Markiewicz, which organised approved schools in Miejsce Piastowe and Pawlikowice in Galicia.In Miejsce Piastowe the Society "has five houses in which over 100 boys and 6 girls, all poor and neglected, are educated through the teaching of reading, writing, counting, the history of their country, the rules of their faith, various craftsmen skills, farming, gardening, fruit-farming, bee-keeping, church singing, and music" (Approved schools in Miejsce Piastowe, 1899, p. 65).The educational system of pr.Markiewicz "is very simple.Work, temperance, and prayer constitute the three sources of physical and spiritual strength, and in the atmosphere of simplicity and equality they serve to create a man who shall live his life with dignity, approaching God" (Markiewicz, 1912, p. 19).
Individual initiatives aimed at taking care of children and their families emerged with increasing frequency at the turn of the 19 th and the 20 th century."Towarzystwo Gniazd Sierocych" ("The Orphanage Society") was established, with its statute accepted in Warsaw on August 16 1911.The Society had a permission to work in the entire Kingdom of Poland."The managing director of the Society is Kazimierz Jeżewski, an economist and a wellknown social worker, the initiator and the organiser of the orphanages" (The Village and the Estate, 1913, p. 8).In 1913 there were five active institutions of this type, and five further ones were ready to be opened.The aims of the orphanages -intended for children whose parents died or those abandoned by their families -were formulated as follows: "It is our desire that the shelter of our orphanages be an example of family, economic, and social life for its children and the neighbouring small farmers" (The Village and the Estate, 1913, p. 8).
Using the examples of press publications one can invoke many other national and individual initiatives.Societies and associations with help, support, upbringing, and education of children and families as their statutory aims were organised, and their work was meant to become a means for the reformation of the entire society.
The discussion about the problems of the family and the negative influence on the young generation has also led to the following reflections: "a remark ought to be made, whether there is a need of an institution in which children obligatorily taken away from their degenerate parents, harmful to the offspring, could be educated.Perhaps someday it should be founded, because it ought to be society's prerogative to have control over such an essential aspect as the upbringing of its future citizens" (Family Chronicle, 1874, p. 201).
To sum up the present paper it appears necessary to quote F. Maternicki, who is also cited above: "in each family the mother, with her high and honourable position, is the soul of the domestic hearth, a guardian angel, as it were, of her children.The so-called emancipation of women, regardless of its extent, should never be compared to the great, virtuous, sacred calling of a mother.A sensible mother is a treasure of the family, and evil is done where the voice of such a mother is ignored" (Family Chronicle, 1874, p. 203).
The main aim of the institutions discussed above was to support the basic functions of the family, namely, the responsibility for children and their upbringing.The initiatives of the many societies, associations, social workers, and the increasingly numerous group of pedagogues were to protect children from danger, introduce them to the world of values and primary education, support and help juvenile delinquents and allow for their reformation.All these activities were not only dedicated to the young ones -the parents were also instructed how to deal with children and how to avoid mistakes and neglect in their upbringing.