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Comment by niels_olson | Hacker News Reader

It takes a village to raise a child. At some point I, and every other parent in every part of every city, needs to send my kid out to pick up a gallon of milk as a test of their maturity, and know that they're relatively safe from having to make other very costly decisions along the way.

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On his way to get milk, if your son stops along his way, a movie theater won't let him in to see an NC-17 rated film, and they won't let him see an R-rated film alone without your consent. A video game retailer won't sell him an AO-rated game, nor will they sell him an M-rated game without your consent. Online game marketplaces have parental controls and gates which rival those used to block streaming of R+ rated commercial films. Why should the law have to double enforce this already deemed successful institutionalized self-policing?

I think, then, that it is the duty of the parent to prepare them for those decisions deemed likely to be encountered. Restricting the potential moral dilemmas that a person (child) may encounter does no more to prepare them for that eventuality than does exposing them to the risk of that experience without adequate preparation.

This.

It is the most painful thing to watch your child make a mistake. But to help them learn from it and avoid it in the future is worth it.

It is even better when they don't make mistakes. Sadly, kids are small versions of their parents.

If we protect them from making difficult decisions when they're 12, they'll be forced to learn to make difficult decisions when they're 18 or 21 or 22, when bad decisions have MUCH worse consequences.

> If we protect them from making difficult decisions when they're 12, they'll be forced to learn to make difficult decisions when they're 18 or 21 or 22, when bad decisions have MUCH worse consequences.

But, when they are 18, 21, etc., they will have developed more mentally and emotionally, and should (should) be better equipped to make those decisions than when one is 12.

(note: in this post I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with the topic at hand, just providing a counterpoint to what you said)

Development that has been stunted by forcing a child down one path without critical thinking and active decision-making on their part will _not_ result in an adult equipped to make difficult decisions.

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