Why do we value "innocence" in children?

[FelixDeCat]

Get ready for the next decade folks! No morality anywhere. Some free and some jailed pedos, their open minded sewers filled with the maggot infested corpses of innocence lost.

 

[IGBT]

Get ready for the next decade folks! No morality anywhere. Some free and some jailed pedos, their open minded sewers filled with the maggot infested corpses of innocence lost.

all brought to you by secular progressives and their moral relativism.

 

[Kirby]

all brought to you by secular progressives and their moral relativism.

zing!

 

[Mike Gayner]

I never really had my innocence as a child. It was taken very early on, by no choice of my own, and I feel duped. It has;however, help me see life in a completely different prospective than that of my sister's, who (for lack of a better word) naturally lost hers. She still lives life with everything handed to her by my parents, as I had to start working for what I've wanted since I was 14.
My life experiences made me want to shelter my kids until they were ready to grow up and face life's harsh realities. I know that isn't realistic in today's world. Kids are having sex, drinking, and doing drugs at a younger and younger age. Unless I am planning on home schooling my children, they are going to face these obstacles whether I like it or not.
There is a difference between being innocent and being overly sheltered and naive to the world.
I feel innocence is a blessing and I think it should be held onto as long as possible.

You should have run faster TBH.

 

[Wheezer]

LOL...you think children are "innocent"...christ you have not been on a school playground in a while have you?

Children can be some of the most thoughtless little pricks you'll ever find.

Having said that, children are often exposed to some of the harshest most cruel things life has to offer.

How many are sold into slavery?
How many are the victims of a pedo?
How many are forced into hard labor?
How many starve to death each year?
How many are forced to live in filth and squalor?
How many are exposed to the realities of life when one parent murders another because of a nasty divorce?

The things I listed are things that many adults should not be exposed to and have to deal with why in the world would you want to expose a 7 year old child to such things?

Why should they have to deal with the realities of life? They have no concept of what reality is. You want them to be exposed to the reality? Lets take something that is a little less harsh than the things I listed.

The next time you see an 8 year old ask the what they think of the health care debate or the stimulus package. Listen carefully to their answer....chances are that will tell you why they should be kept innocent.....because they have no clue beyond the fact they can finally tie thier shoes on thier own of what reality is or means.

It should be preserved as long as it can be, why? Because we all wish sometimes that we could revert back that way, when the boss was not screaming at us, when the IRS was not knocking on the door telling you that you are going to be audited, when your wife/gf tells you that she's been sleeping with her old flame and things between you "just aren't working out", you just got a $1500 from your mechanic to rebuild a transmission, some asshole in a parking lot smashed in your door and the insurance company is being a PITA getting it fixed.

Children don't need to worry about shit like that, 18 years flies by why not let them enjoy it....they have the rest of their lives for life to smack them around.

 

[Newbian]

I prefer the child to be innocent...

It gives said child a sweet taste when you cook them over a open flame.

 

[irishScott]

my avatar!

Ooooo

innocence is bullshit. But just dumping a child into a rough life with no reigns on 'em is also not a good approach. Carefully modulated.

The banning of child labor was the start of innocence as a quality. Kids are very capable at quite a young age, but are kept artificially immature by being forced to simply be leeches. Some are apt to want to break from that, others don't understand why they cannot be leeches forever.

Labor as a child awakens the youthful mind.

Our kids have gained nothing, and been forced into an immature mindset, from being protected from the world for 16 years. In fact, they are part of the problem our education system is falling in the ranks in comparisons to other countries.
Child labor isn't the only thing, as other countries continue to keep it barred. Just the general practice of guarding the youth from the "evils" of the world. Like drinking and drugs and the streets and not allowing them to walk to play grounds and all these things.

Kids are kept so closely guarded here in the us it's sickening. I was fortunate to not have to deal with that, was given a ton of freedom and am a better individual for it. Sure have failed a shitton of times, but it builds character. :biggrin:

qft

 

[RedArmy]

 

[skace]

Innocence and youth, once lost neither can be reclaimed. Things of that nature will always hold importance. Nothing is ever more amazing than the first time. The first time you went to a ball game, your first love, your first pizza, your first high. It becomes increasingly difficult to regain that feeling once again. That doesn't mean innocence should be held onto forever, but that it has a lot of value in the grand scheme of things. It should be enjoyed by the innocent and not exploited by the learned.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

It's easier to brainwash kids if you keep them innocent. Once they lose that, they start questioning everything.

 

[ixelion]

Children are not capable of exerting dominance\power over others. "Innocence" refers to a temporary, but continuous state of subjugation to care-givers and adults.

Once a child learns that he can exert control over the minds and bodies of overs, they are no longer perceived as innocent (you may not even call them children).

This taken-for granted belief is wrong however on the following grounds:

Adult brains are instinctively programmed to respond to the "innocence"\vulnerability of children i.e. crying, cooing, cute faces etc. In a sense adults are slaves to their instinctual responses to children, this makes them vulnerable and subservient to the needs of children.

 

[nageov3t]

It's easier to brainwash kids if you keep them innocent. Once they lose that, they start questioning everything.

it was all over once I learned that my parents lied to me about santa claus

 

[lupi]

If you want to watch 6 year olds poll dance head to thailand, we like our kids innocent here.

 

[LittleMsSnuggie]

You should have run faster TBH.

What is that supposed to mean?

 

[hanoverphist]

You'd prefer that all children were cynical, distrusting, bastards?

it would be like posting here then...


i try not to shelter my kids too much, i let them figure stuff out on their own most of the time. i really have no idea what age kids lose their innocence at, or what causes them to be considered not innocent. is it exposure to sex that determines this? is it the realization that life isnt fair beyond their parents? ive just started my twins on the concept that life isnt really all that fair. the last 12 years ive always made sure all three of my kids were treated equally, as well as given stuff equally. now they are seeing that the world doesnt make that distinction, and they dont really like it.

one thing i have impressed on them from age 1 is that they need to not only think of their wants/ needs/ perspective, but how others may think. this is mainly an excercise to make them more aware of the consequences of their actions. so far it has done more good than harm, they didnt equate that with the whole "PC" movement. we have actually discussed how stupid the whole "PC" thing is.

 

[BassBomb]

I don't understand how innocence can be taken away

 

[IceBergSLiM]

I'm here to tell you a few things about child labor laws, ok? They're silly and outdated. Why back in the 30s, children as young as five could work as they pleased; from textile factories to iron smelts. Yippee! Hurray!

 

[AreaCode707]

My post from the other forum:
I think you answer your own question. "Innocence equates with lack of experience." While experience can and often is a good thing, it also brings challenges, effort, hurt and difficulty. It's not that people wish to deny their children experience but often they wish to delay it, give their children a little more time without the stresses and burdens that experience brings. What has been seen cannot be unseen, as the saying goes, so why rush children into a loss of innocence when life is a little easier with it?

I also think that having innocence around us recalls us to that point where we were more innocent, less burdened, carrying fewer of the cares of the world, and people enjoy that recollection.

In answer to your question: "You say that as if the bulk of experience we gain as we travel through life is negative. Is it? Is it really? Comparing myself as I am now versus as to when I was a child, I prefer being an adult who has benefited from the experiences I have been through."

I'm not suggesting that the bulk of experience is negative, just that experience, whether positive or negative, gives us more to ponder and carry through life. It clearly is an overall good thing, but it still takes work. Parents want their kids to have a little bit longer in life without that extra work.

 

[AreaCode707]

Slow internet connection, sorry for the double post.

 

[LittleMsSnuggie]

I don't understand how innocence can be taken away

If you were raped/molested as a child, had a father who was never home because he was stationed elsewhere and a mother who was always either working, partying, doing drugs and bringing random men home while you're forced to grow up and take care of yourself at the age of 3 0r 4, how can it not be taken away?

 

[PlasmaBomb]

It's a sociological question, you dumbfucks. I'm raising it as a matter of legitimate discussion.

In off topic?

shens...

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

 

[darkxshade]

0-12 = Child
13-19 = Teenager
18+ = Adulthood

The OP suggests innocence is preserved until 18 but no... they are usually not so innocent after 12 when they start to learn things for themselves.