<Tr> <Td> July 1948 </Td> <Td> UK Government </Td> <Td> The War landed more than a million children, evacuated from town centres, on to local councils with inadequate resources to care for them . Many were placed in foster homes and became emotionally disturbed, reacting by bed - wetting, stealing and running away . After the war, children who had no families to return to, became' nobody's children' . <P> The Children Act 1948 finally brought together responsibility for children without adequate parents, formerly dealt with under the Poor Law, and responsibility for delinquent children in Remand Homes, formerly under the aegis of Local Education Authorities, with the requirement for every County and County Borough to establish a Children's Committee and appoint a Children's Officer . This has been the basis on which social workers have acted on behalf of children ever since . </P> <P> Detention Centres, under the Prison Department of the Home Office, were later introduced for miscreants, designed to administer a "short sharp shock" to older teenagers through drilling, physical jerks, military - style discipline, and cold showers before dawn . </P> </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <P> The Children Act 1948 finally brought together responsibility for children without adequate parents, formerly dealt with under the Poor Law, and responsibility for delinquent children in Remand Homes, formerly under the aegis of Local Education Authorities, with the requirement for every County and County Borough to establish a Children's Committee and appoint a Children's Officer . This has been the basis on which social workers have acted on behalf of children ever since . </P> <P> Detention Centres, under the Prison Department of the Home Office, were later introduced for miscreants, designed to administer a "short sharp shock" to older teenagers through drilling, physical jerks, military - style discipline, and cold showers before dawn . </P> <Tr> <Td> 1950s </Td> <Td> Society and media </Td> <Td> <P> Teenagers first came to public attention during the war years, when there were fears of juvenile delinquency . By the 1950s, the media presented the teenagers in terms of generational rebellion . The exaggerated moral panic among politicians and the older generation was typically belied by the growth in intergenerational cooperation between parents and children . Many working - class parents, enjoying newfound economic security, eagerly took the opportunity to encourage their teens to enjoy more adventurous lives . Schools were falsely portrayed as dangerous blackboard jungles under the control of rowdy kids . The media distortions of the teens as too affluent, and as promiscuous, delinquent, counter-cultural rebels do not reflect the actual experiences of ordinary young adults, particularly young women, </P> </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr>

History of the age of criminal responsibility uk