Cynthia A. Connolly is with the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia. Janet Golden is with the Department of History, Rutgers University-Camden, Camden, NJ.
Am J Public Health. 2018 Jul;108(7):902-907. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2018.304354.
In April 1918, President Woodrow Wilson, alarmed at the high draftee rejection rate, proclaimed the second year of American engagement in World War I as "Children's Year." The motto of the nationwide program was to "Save 100,000 Babies." Children's Year represented a multipronged child welfare campaign aimed at gathering data on best practices regarding maternal and child health promotion, documenting the effects of poverty on ill health, reducing the school drop-out rate, ensuring safe play spaces for children, and addressing the unique needs of targeted populations such as orphans and delinquents. Thousands of communities across the country participated in Children's Year, which was overseen by the Children's Bureau and the Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense. The 1919 White House Conference on Children's Health synthesized all of the Children's Year findings into concrete recommendations. But in an effort to minimize conflict with organized medicine and those who feared governmental intrusion into family life, stakeholders accepted a series of compromises. By so doing, they inadvertently helped enshrine the means-tested, class-based, fragmented approach to child well-being in the United States that persists to this day.
1918 年 4 月，伍德罗·威尔逊总统对高新兵拒绝率感到震惊，宣布美国参与第一次世界大战的第二年为“儿童年”。全国性计划的口号是“拯救 10 万名婴儿”。儿童年代表了一个多方面的儿童福利运动，旨在收集有关孕产妇和儿童健康促进最佳实践的数据，记录贫困对健康的影响，降低辍学率，确保儿童安全游戏空间，并解决孤儿和少年犯等特定人群的独特需求。全国数千个社区参与了儿童年，由儿童局和国防委员会妇女委员会监督。1919 年白宫儿童健康会议将儿童年的所有调查结果综合成具体建议。但为了尽量减少与有组织的医学和那些担心政府干预家庭生活的人之间的冲突，利益相关者接受了一系列妥协。这样做，他们无意中帮助确立了在美国至今仍然存在的以经济状况调查为基础、以阶级为基础、支离破碎的儿童福利方法。
