Is it abusive to raise your children to believe false information?
By ArienKing
@ArienKing (4647)
India
April 16, 2007 2:29am CST
Should it be considered abuse, for example, if a parent raises their child to believe that 1 + 1 = 4363 or that the earth is flat? (I know that it's not physical abuse, but it could be seen as a form of negligence.)
Note that when I'm saying 'false', I'm not referring to things that are *totally* unprovable (i.e. without any concrete evidence supporting or opposing it). If someone wants to raise their kids to believe that god is a giant pumpkin, for instance, that's not what I'm referring to with this question. Some information can be told false which is not related to their young age but some times we do make them believe false things and this may hamper their minds when they face the real fact..
1 response
@ThePaintedPorch (64)
• United States
16 Apr 07
You can teach them whatever you like, but as soon as they hit school and are taught otherwise about your math abilities, then I think they'll be looking at you from another perspective.
You can't hide your children from human contact all their lives, so it's best to prepare them for the outside world as best as you can.
Stimulating a child's imagination is good for them, as long as you don't go overboard and corrupt them into believing that life is just one big fantasy.
Sooner or later, reality will step up and slap them in the face, hopefully you have taken the steps to soften the blow for them.
