Do you believe in keeping a child innocent or ignorant?

by Magzilla Posted 2008/07/07 17:24:42

93 votes
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	Keeping children ignorant is the only way to keep them innocent	9 votes	10%
	Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so they are able to recognize a dangerous situation and will be educated enough to try to get themselves out of that situation, hence staying innocent	84 votes	90%

Recently I had gotten into an argument with a couple of SodaHeads (one of whom spinelessly blocked me without answering any of my questions or offered an opinion as to why they believed what they did) who seem to think the only way for a child to remain innocent is to keep them ignorant to the realities of life. I disagree; I think you should teach children the dangers of life and inform them of the consequences of other peoples and their own actions. Based off of my life experiences I have come to the conclusion that people who are ignorant are more susceptible to becoming a victim. What are your thoughts?

+30

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Chef 2008/07/08 00:18:58

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+4
They must be old school Christians or Muslims.
In this day and age for a parent not to teach the child everything...it is a shame.
They should be reported to the department of Children and family services.
As Suicide is Painless said, Ignorance is not bliss...
Here is what My Religion Teaches...
Therefore, the beloved of God and the maid-servants of the Merciful must train their children with life and heart and teach them in the school of virtue and perfection. They must not be lax in this matter; they must not be inefficient. Truly, if a babe did 399 not live at all it were better than to let it grow ignorant, for that innocent babe, in later life, would become afflicted with innumerable defects, responsible to and questioned by God, reproached and rejected by the people. What a sin this would be and what an omission!

(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 398)

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More polls by Magzilla

Gun665 2009/04/08 22:09:49
Celeste-o-bot 9000 2008/07/11 16:46:11

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+1
Innocence NEVER lasts, no matter how hard you try. We all need to see the realities of life eventually to be able to survive. Sure, there are some things that children should stay innocent to but eventually they will have to learn them. But, the flip side is if you disillusion them too much while they area young it can "damage" them in a way. It's a tricky balance act. It's unfortunate that in this day and age children need to be aware of a lot of things just to be safe, but that's how it is now so we need to make sure they stay safe.

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Animox 2008/07/09 22:16:49

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+1
You can't be prepared unless you know whats out there.

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BRADY969 2008/07/08 19:09:23

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+1
Martin Luther King, Jr said....
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

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lucyfur 2008/07/08 16:41:43

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+2
I do not like kids,but they are a lot more intelligent than adults give them credit for.Most of my friends like the fact that I speak to them the same as I do their parents(my friends).

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cha cha 2008/07/08 16:14:13

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+2
Heres my theory for what its worth.I would rather teach my kids the dangers in life,Like stranger danger and have them at home scared safe in their bed,Then have them ignorant to the fact and get into some predators car.You can teach them to be safe and still keep them innocent,But aware of what might be lurking out there..Ignorance and innocents are 2 different things.

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Magzilla to cha cha 2008/07/08 17:43:22

+1
I agree 100% Good post

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brittney paige 2008/07/08 16:13:11

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+2
but you can't do it too fast. i believe in easing them into it. if you don't tell them this stuff, they will learn it one day and it will hit them like a brick wall. my brother is pretty sheltered. he is 9 and he just figured out that there is something called sex. i knew when i was in kindergarden. and maybe that was a little too early, but you can't keep your children sheltered forever. and it will hurt them if you try.

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boomer 2008/07/08 15:33:22

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

too bad their's only two answers here on this poll. what i believe happened with you and your friends is that you are using the term "innocent" as a textbook definition... i believe by saying innocent, your friends may have meant "pure". if you are asking if a more informed kid can avoid getting tricked by low-lifes in to doing some stupid stuff better than an ignorant kid can, it's no contest. but, if you are asking if a kid who has been exposed to the ugliness of the world is as pure as a kid who has not, then i would have to disagree, but since you have used the word "Innocent" I will agree with you on this poll.

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Magzilla to boomer 2008/07/08 17:46:23

+2
What I was getting at the with this poll is that the only way for a child to remain innocent is by giving them the tools (knowledge) they will need to recognize danger or a bad situation and will make a choice to avoid it, whereas a child who is totally ignorant wouldn't know better and would most likely get hurt.

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boomer to Magzilla 2008/07/09 04:27:01

right, you mean innocent as in not committing crimes or whatever, i think they meant innocent as in pure. know what i mean? people who are pure usually tend to be easy to manipulate.

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Magzilla to boomer 2008/07/09 17:51:08

+1
No, I mean innocent as in pure, but I feel the only way to keep the pure is by giving them the tools to recognize a bad situation. Ignorance isn't pure, they are more likely to loose their innocence because people will take advantage of them.

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boomer to Magzilla 2008/07/09 18:30:26

i see what' you're getting at now. i think both will make a kid lose their innocence. when you inform them of what the world is like, then it's taken away... when something does happen to them, then they learn the hard way and it's taken away. either way, when they gain that knowledge, that realization, it's gone. that's what i believe anyways.

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Magzilla to boomer 2008/07/09 18:39:08

+1
The difference is that if you teach the child (as long as it is age appropriate) they will still be innocent because they didn't have to experince it, whereas a child that has to experince it first will not have the knowledge of how to handle it, and talking about it is never as bad as experincing it.

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boomer to Magzilla 2008/07/09 20:57:57

it's not as bad, but it can still take innocence away.

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Magzilla to boomer 2008/07/09 22:06:09

+1
How so? It doesn't mean they stop acting like children. It doesn’t take any responsibility from the parent away. Do you think waiting to teach them about these things when they are 18 is the best way to handle it?

Off the subject, are you a BSG fan? I am wondering because of your handle LOL

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boomer to Magzilla 2008/07/10 04:16:56

my handle? what's BSG? lol.

anyways, no way, i don't believe in waiting til 18... i believe in teaching them about the things they need to know as they come. no sense in teaching a 6yr. old about what happens during an abortion... but it does take away from their innocence... take schools... a lot of them try to teach kids about everything when they're just in elementry school, and for some it's too much, so they end up on anti-depressents or whatever else... granted anyone can get anti-depressents as easily as they are given out, but some kids i think do get burnt out. i suppose in the end, just like anything else, each individual kid can handle according to their gifts.

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Magzilla to boomer 2008/07/10 05:14:18

+1
your handle = boomer
BSG = Battlestar Galactica

I am a big fan of the show LOL

I think people are throwing this out of porportion, I am not talking about teaching small children every single detial about what goes in life, they don't need that to be safe, I am talking about teaching them just enough information to be safer.

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boomer to Magzilla 2008/07/10 14:51:32

so kind of like i said, teach them what they need to know at that time, not overload? i will agree that if you don't overload a kid you're probably ok, thing is, each kid can handle different amount of information.

i don't watch BSG, lol. no cable anyways, but i've never watched it

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Magzilla to boomer 2008/07/10 21:21:41

+1
It is a good show if you like SciFi LOL one of my favorite characters goes by Boomer

I agree, and the discussion will vary from child to child of course. Learning is a gradual thing, they won't be able to take it all in if they are overloaded. (^_^)

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boomer to Magzilla 2008/07/11 20:12:19

+1
yeah, take it as it comes... should be fine.

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tray 2008/07/08 15:24:26

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+2
I think kids need as much info as they can handle, in order to help them make safety choices.

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Janie 2008/07/08 13:44:32

Keeping children ignorant is the only way to keep them innocent

Innocent until old enough to not be innocent. Too many fears and burdens on children at a young age. This robs them of their youth.

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irish -liberty or death! 2008/07/08 12:53:01

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+2
well informed is the only way!! why shield your child from life?

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Darkest Burning Star 2008/07/08 12:22:33

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+2
If they don't know what to get away from, it's much worse. There are ways of explaining things to them that skip details and keep them from knowing every bad thing in the world.

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Tracy 2008/07/08 12:11:38

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+1
Street smart is how I tried to raise my girls.

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Wicked (Holla Back Boy) 2008/07/08 10:12:29

Keeping children ignorant is the only way to keep them innocent

Innocents is dead though. I don't believe in it.
I believe if you teach them the horrors of the world, they may become intelligent enough to live through them. Though the problem with that is they can sometimes because desensitized and expect the worse from anything.

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Sofia 2008/07/08 09:16:22
angel_of_madness 2008/07/08 09:09:42

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+2
In this day and age parents can not afford to keep their children ignorant. It's hard enough to keep them safe, parents should not make it worse by keeping their children rapped in cotton wool.

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☠Marz555☠ 2008/07/08 08:08:31

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+2
let them make mistakes.... and learn!!!

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Deleted 2008/07/08 07:22:42
queenie peavey 2008/07/08 07:11:28

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+2
i've come under fire a number of times as well for "explaining too much" to a child..but i think knowlege can only help keep them safe in this world.

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countessK 2008/07/08 06:52:58 (edited)

Keeping children ignorant is the only way to keep them innocent

Let them be children. Plenty of time for them to learn the bad news in school of what a twisted world we live in.

But the parents are 100% responsible that the child is SAFE at all times, until they are old enough to learn self defense. I would never send my child to a public school because they are not safe. Private schools are the only way to go. If you can't afford to do it right, don't have kids.

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OracleBrad 2008/07/08 06:11:25

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+3
Ignorant children become ignorant adults. I taught my children to think for themselves and be aware of the world's dangers... particularly ignorant adults.

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cronewinter 2008/07/08 05:53:35

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+2
teach your children the realities of life early in language they can understand. their lives depend on it.

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jo-jo 2008/07/08 05:16:22

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+2
you have to teach your child about the dangers in life or people will use them, they'll never know when they might be walking in to a dangerous place if you keep your children in the dark all you are doing is turning your children in to a victim

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Mollydolly 2008/07/08 05:10:59 (edited)

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+2
We raised our daughter very very openly. she asked questions we answered them. sometimes only partly because of her age but she has always been older that her years. How will kids learn to make choices and examine things if they don't know the facts?I taught at a Unitarian Universalist Church School, and we taught the kids about every religion and religious holidays as well as the environment and social issues. The premise being that when they reached an age where they were ready to make decisions about their own lives they would be prepared. Our daughter at 20 is still a virgin, by choice hers not ours. In high School she would comment on girls getting pregnant and what was their problem how could they not know about birth control? I feel that it is a form of child abuse not to educate your children about life and its ups downs and foibles. A friend of our daughter who was very restricted at home and not allowed to ask any pertinent questions yet had to listen to her mom and step mom "doing it" every night in the room next to her, was on a mission from freshman year to loose her virginity to anyone who would have her. Needless to say ..... Kids can be so passive agressive and feel like they are immortal so they will try anything with out knowing the facts. In those rebellious ye...''

We raised our daughter very very openly. she asked questions we answered them. sometimes only partly because of her age but she has always been older that her years. How will kids learn to make choices and examine things if they don't know the facts?I taught at a Unitarian Universalist Church School, and we taught the kids about every religion and religious holidays as well as the environment and social issues. The premise being that when they reached an age where they were ready to make decisions about their own lives they would be prepared. Our daughter at 20 is still a virgin, by choice hers not ours. In high School she would comment on girls getting pregnant and what was their problem how could they not know about birth control? I feel that it is a form of child abuse not to educate your children about life and its ups downs and foibles. A friend of our daughter who was very restricted at home and not allowed to ask any pertinent questions yet had to listen to her mom and step mom "doing it" every night in the room next to her, was on a mission from freshman year to loose her virginity to anyone who would have her. Needless to say ..... Kids can be so passive agressive and feel like they are immortal so they will try anything with out knowing the facts. In those rebellious years they will go for whatever it is the parent does not want. Listen to Painless it's way too true. What you don't know can kill or harm you. and ignorance is ignorance not bliss.

(more)

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Magzilla to Mollydolly 2008/07/08 17:49:47

Well stated!!

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Crazy C 2008/07/08 05:08:39

Teach children the dangers of life and how to act in dangerous situations so ...

+2
I agree with you. You dont seem to want to tramauitze or scare that shitnacks out of the child; you simply want to keep him/her cautious. There is many ways to educate children on dangers; all in moderation.

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Mollydolly to Crazy C 2008/07/08 05:15:29

shitnacks?

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