Oral history narratives construct the 1950s as a time of immense freedom for Australian children; roaming the streets happily and safely until night-fall. These idyllic recollections are framed by a set of contemporary concerns about the over-protected twenty-first century child. And yet the introduction, by a range of government agencies, of a variety of strategies to protect juvenile safety suggests that adult fears for children existed in the post-war years. This paper explores the seeming contradiction between the existence of such restrictions and the memories of carefree youth in 1950s Victoria.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	history, children, Australia, freedom, mobility
Research Division:	History, Heritage and Archaeology
Research Group:	Historical studies
Research Field:	Australian history
Objective Division:	Culture and Society
Objective Group:	Understanding past societies
Objective Field:	Understanding Australia's past
UTAS Author:	Pascoe Leahy, C (Dr Carla Pascoe Leahy)
ID Code:	148744
Year Published:	2009
Web of Science® Times Cited:	4
Deposited By:	History and Classics
Deposited On:	2022-02-04
Last Modified:	2022-03-17
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