16c Puritans taught their children 'to die' [audio 15min]

"Invention of Childhood" is major 30-part narrative history series exploring British childhood and the experience of British children over the last thousand years, with one 15-minute programme each weekday from Mon 25th Sept for 6 weeks. Each programme may be streamed online for 7 days after broadcast. Week Two -- 2 to 6 Oct: Children in the 16th and 17th Century. Episode 6: Learn to Die. After the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, how did the new, strict Puritan ethos affect children's lives? One piece of advice, suggesting that the earliest sentence taught to a child should be "learn to die", seems shocking now, although it does tie in with the high infant and child mortality rates and the Puritan obsession with preparing children for death. Popular children's writer Michael Morpurgo is Britain's former Children's Laureate. Readers include Jack Blumenau, Anna Maxwell Martin, Timothy West and Adam Godley.