I grew up in a home with a coal and/or wood fire that was lit at the start of winter and stayed alight for most of the season. Health and safety standards have certainly come a long way since those days. As a ten-year-old, I was required by my parents to ensure there was enough wood chopped into the right sizes to fit the fireplace. I became quite skilled at chopping wood – completely unsupervised – with what I recall was a fairly blunt axe. I still have all my fingers and toes intact to prove it! While my childhood was not particularly hard, I cannot help but notice how earning my pocket money back then was likely quite different from how children today might go about earning the same.
I was only ever toiling for pocket money of course. Life’s essentials, and every now and then some of life’s luxuries, were in ready supply when I was young. By stark contrast, in this week’s assembly, the boys learned about George Brewster, an 11-year-old chimney sweep whose tragic death exactly 150 years ago became a turning point in the fight against child exploitation in Victorian Britain. George became trapped while working in a chimney at Fulbourn Hospital in Cambridge, and despite rescue efforts, he sadly lost his life. His death shocked the nation and inspired Lord Shaftesbury to push through the Chimney Sweepers Act 1875, which banned the use of child chimney sweeps. The Blue Plaque soon to be erected in Cambridge in George’s honour ensures his story will continue to remind us of the progress made and the lives saved.
I was deeply impressed by the serious and mindful way the boys engaged with this poignant story. There were some telling very silent moments in assembly as I believe the boys were considering very deeply indeed how far society has come in protecting children like them, and the extent to which technology continues to improve living conditions for us all. Life’s progress is precious, of course, and our continuing exploration of ‘technology’ (our assembly theme for this term) is proving to be very thought-provoking.