ABSTRACT
Out of these writings developed a growing awareness of developmental stages and age distinctions across the life course. Ideas about the innocence, vulnerability and dependence of children resulted in the development of notions of parental responsibility and the general collective interest of the state for the well-being of children as a future generation (Dingwall et al., 1995: 220). These views sowed the seeds of the belief that children are everybody’s concern, and that they constitute an investment in the future in terms of the reproduction of social order.
