Kids and Quarantine: Lessons from the 1940s

Last updated on: April 8, 2020 at 12:01 am by David Swartz

Kids and Quarantine: Lessons from the 1940s 2020-04-05T19:42:53-04:00 David Swartz

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We’re pleased to welcome Jackie Den Hartog to the Anxious Bench. Jackie holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Notre Dame and enjoys teaching literature to students of many ages. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband and four children.

***

As a parent, one of the hard things about explaining the current pandemic—and the prescribed course of social distancing—to our children is that they don’t really have a frame of reference for it. They don’t have any historical understanding of the concept of “quarantine” because vaccines have made the threat of highly communicable diseases irrelevant to their daily lives. This past week I was reminded again how historically anomalous it is for children to live without the threat of life-threatening contagious diseases, and how recently in our own country’s educational history children were taught to understand and appropriately respond to these diseases.

In our basement we have a handful of old grade-school health textbooks from the 1940s and 50s, discards from the grade school I attended but used decades before my time. My kindergarten daughter enjoys the stories and pictures, so we’ve been using two of them for her reading practice. Entitled Three Friends and Five in the Family, these volumes were published by Scott, Foresman and Company in 1948 as part of their Health and Personal Development Series and were widely used in grade schools across the United States. The stories follow several children through everyday adventures and incorporate lessons about hygiene, health, safety, and personal responsibility. The families and fashions depicted reflect the mores of post-war America, but the portrayal of quarantine could not be more relevant given the rapid spread of COVID-19 and the upheaval of daily life we are all experiencing.

In Three Friends, Sue gets sick and shortly thereafter is quarantined at home with her mother. Even her father and siblings must leave because “A man came and put something red on the house. After that no one could go in or out.” The illustration shows a local health official nailing a bright red sign emblazoned with the words “Scarlet Fever” to the house.

The story goes on to describe how Sue was “very, very sick” for a long time and could not play with her friends or see anyone. The description of her days in bed would probably have resonated with children (and parents) in the reading audience, since scarlet fever was still a leading cause of childhood death in the early 20th century. Eventually Sue does recover and wants to return to school for a Valentine’s party: “’I am not very sick now,’ Sue said. ‘Why can’t the man come and take down that old red thing? I don’t like to be sick.’” Her mother responds, “No one likes to be sick…That is why you must not play with your friends.” The implication is clear: Sue is not kept inside for her own health and well-being, but for the health of the entire community. The text is gently teaching children to place community wellness about their own desires.

I’ve thought about this story quite a bit in the past few days. As recently as the middle of the twentieth century, children were taught that when they were very sick it was their responsibility to stay home. Whereas today reporting agencies rarely specify the origins of infection much below the county level, in the late 1940s houses were still physically marked in order to precisely indicate the locus of disease. When the quarantine sign went up, everyone in the community understood that it was in their best interest to stay away. In Five in the Family, which follows Three Friends, Mother comes home and tells Father about the signs she has seen on some houses in town. Lest there be any confusion among the reading audience, the textbook continues by saying it was “a yellow sign that looked like this.” Father is understandably concerned and asks whether any of his children went into those houses. “’Oh, no!’ Mother said. ‘They know better than that.’” Clearly, by the time children were about eight years old they were expected to be familiar with signs warning of communicable disease, as well as the social distancing procedures necessary to keep those diseases from spreading.

Interestingly, Five in the Family also points to the medical advances that would largely eliminate the quarantine system within the next few decades. Mother goes on to tell Father that she has already made an appointment with the doctor for all the children to be re-vaccinated that very evening. Clearly community spread is again recognized as a potential problem, but in this textbook the responsible course of action is to get a vaccine. The message promulgated in health textbooks such as these worked; as a result of widespread vaccination, smallpox was eradicated from North America in 1952. Vaccination against common childhood illnesses became common in the 1960s, as did the use of antibiotics to kill the streptococcus bacteria that causes scarlet fever.

Upon reflection, I’ve realized that although these stories were primarily intended to teach about health, they also gently work to inculcate empathy. When Sue’s friends learn she is ill, they send Valentine’s cards and call her on the phone. Her class chooses to postpone their Valentine’s party until she can return, and the next chapter, entitled “A Welcome for Sue,” shows Sue watching from her window as the public health officer removes the red sign. Behind the officer stand her two friends, waiting for her to come out and play. The suggestion is that the sign does not confer any lasting stigma; it is a public necessity and everyone celebrates when it comes down. The chapter ends with Sue’s class welcoming her back to school.

I know all too well that teaching empathy to children is difficult; repeated remonstrances to “Be Kind” just aren’t that effective. One silver lining found in the long afternoons now bereft of extracurricular activities is that my children have started to make connections between their own situation and historical events they have previously studied. For the first time they are identifying, albeit in small ways, with American children in previous generations. The empty bread aisle at Aldi prompted discussions of bread lines during the Great Depression, while a half-serious conversation about conserving toilet paper brought to mind the ration books they had seen in a WWII exhibit at the history museum. My hope is that this fledgling historical empathy, and the knowledge that they are not the only children to live through pandemics and quarantines, will lead to greater empathy in the present. I hope that when COVID-19 subsides, they will have a renewed sense of gratitude for the many opportunities and conveniences they have, recognizing that in the not-so-distant past quarantine was endured without Chromebooks and wi-fi. In the meantime, like Sue’s mother, I will gently remind them of the reason they cannot go anywhere: No one likes to be sick.

Previous Post

April 7, 2020

Distemper in the Family of Sarah Pierpont Edwards

Next Post

April 9, 2020 Pilgrims and Pandemics

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe guest post Guest Post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the Roman emperor when Jesus was crucified?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Nero Caligula Augustus Tiberius