Topics Children

Question Nowadays the things I thought and said when I was younger seem to be silly and I am ashamed for it. On the other side we admire the child's purity. So is it the education or our origin which is "good"? Why are we educated when everyone loves children and their attitudes?

Accepted:
February 4, 2008

Comments

First, I would advise you to let go of the shame you feel for what you thought or said when you were younger. We can all look back and wince at such things, but this is part of growing up and (we hope) gaining some wisdom along the way.

I, for one, do not admire what you call "the child's purity." I think I understand what it is in children that you refer to here. But I do not find such "purity" (AKA innocence or ignorance) admirable--after all, it is not something they have achieved with effort, and the older they get, the less charming it will be, if they don't "lose" this "purity." It is just part of what it means to be an immature child--and we can understand how this can be spoiled, in a way that is damaging both to the child and to the adult the child will become, if this "purity" is taken from them too soon or too harshly. So we value it as an important part of what it is to be a child. But that is not the same as admiring it.

What is good for a child, then, is not the same in every case as what is good for an adult. Both phases can be good in their own ways, but these are not in every aspect the same: childish ignorance, for example, is usually a bad thing in an adult and that is why we value the education that helps us to have more mature outlooks and make more mature judgments in the adult world. Because there are endearing traits that go with being a child, why should we not take joy from seeing these traits in them? From the fact that we do so, it does not follow that the traits we cherish among adults have to be the same as those we enjoy in children, or that the way we value childish traits in children shows instability in the way we judge adult values.