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Kōrero: Teenagers and youth

Children milking cows

Image
Children milking cows

Children milk cows near Auckland in the late 19th century, while their mother watches from the doorway behind. Children on dairy farms often got up early and helped with the milking before walking to school – where they sometimes fell asleep. Working age in the late 1800s was around 12. A childhood of play, free of any work, is a very recent invention.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira

Reference: C9166

Permission of the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Carl Walrond, Teenagers and youth – Defining teenagers as a group, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/27009/children-milking-cows (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Carl Walrond, i tāngia i te 22 March 2011, updated 1 August 2017.