From children as consumers to children as contributors?

Dorothy Scott

“Some time back, I was reading the death notices in The Age, as one does, of course, when one retires and returns to Melbourne! One death notice intrigued me:

Pa, didn’t we have some fun? As a boy you took Kari and me for rides on bulldozers, tractors and the timberjack; and you taught us so much around the farm. Working with you, stacking timber, feeding the animals, tractor work, and right up to recent times, gardening, or just polishing your cars — it was satisfying to hear you say ‘beauty’, knowing I did a good job for you….

Did children still experience the joy of helping grandparents like that, I wondered? …”