Launched in 1865, Bluszcz [Ivy] was an illustrated women’s weekly which featured topical parenting issues in the context of ongoing social and cultural changes, the arrival of new technologies and modern tendencies in the arts and science. In tune with the latest trends in education, the weekly propagated a new approach to parenting and schooling. While upbringing should be based on at least elementary knowledge of the child’s psychology, educational institutions should open up to democratic reforms. The whole society need to be involved in the process of character shaping of the young generations of Poles. It was a task, the writers of Bluszcz insisted, inherent to a patriotic commitment to the future of the nation.
The article presents a qualitative analysis of the parenting themes featured in Bluszcz in 1905–1918, notably child's development, parenting problems, education of girls and women and the character of a good teacher/educator. Apart from regular health and hygiene advice, information on children with special care needs and presentation of latest educational trends, the magazine would also publish discussions about the ways of inculcating desirable values in children and young people. The special focus of this article is, however, on its presentation of vocational education and its handling of the situation of women being pushed to find new roles for themselves in a modern world. The author shows how Bluszcz tried to convince its female readers that the purpose of upbringing was to prepare a young person for a life that combines self-reliance, a useful role in society and self-realization, i.e. developing one’s own talents, passions and interests. Inspired by that mission, the editors and writers wrote about access to education (in the broad sense of the word), the role of parents in the nurturing and education of their children, in organizing small children’s free-time activities and taking care of their hygiene and health.
Undoubtedly, Bluszcz had the ambition to stimulate the social engagement of its women readers and encourage them to break down educational barriers, fight social pathologies and find the right approach towards children with special needs.

This article discusses the role of the illustrated women's magazine Bluszcz [Ivy] in shaping and stimulating its readers' social and political engagement throughout the interwar period, from its relaunch in 1921 until 1939. Addressed to educated, middle-class women, it strove to raise their awareness in the wake of the women's enfranchisement act of 1918 and inspire them to participate in public life, to energize the local community, and to organize and promote various forms of social work.