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From: tan@ihlpg.UUCP (Bill Tanenbaum)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: corporal punishment in schools -Reasoning with children
Message-ID: <1205@ihlpg.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 9-Sep-85 14:49:42 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihlpg.1205
Posted: Mon Sep  9 14:49:42 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 10-Sep-85 04:27:46 EDT
References: <1075@sphinx.UUCP> <7800422@inmet.UUCP> <1583@peora.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 18

>[Joel Upchurch] 
>         I also think that it is foolish to try and reason with a small
>         child.  They  are  not  miniature  adults and to try and treat
>         them as such is a big  mistake.  You  might  as  well  try  to
>         reason  with  a puppy to housebreak it.  With a older child it
>         may be useful to explain  why  they  should  or  shouldn't  do
>         something, but only after they have developed the intelligence
>         and acquired the experience to understand the explanation.
--------
I disagree.   Children old enough to understand speech are old enough
to reason at some level.  Children old enough to ask the reason for some
rule deserve an honest answer at their level.  "Do this because I say so"
is not good enough.  Do not underestimate your child.  A child who
percieves that good behavior consists in following a set of seemingly arbitrary
rules with no underlying justification will have difficulty in developing
an internal moral code.
-- 
Bill Tanenbaum - AT&T Bell Labs - Naperville IL  ihnp4!ihlpg!tan