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Comment by moshun | Hacker News Reader

I’m not sure being honest with children about something that impacts them so heavily is the wrong move here.

Traumatized or not, I suspect teaching children about the problem in clear terms will lead to a better informed generation of scientists, lawmakers, and voters. Hopefully they make and stick to better decisions then those that came before.

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I hear what you’re saying, that children should be educated about the reality they find themselves in. If that is the case, and I would say their are exceptions until children are older, then strong guidelines are needed, partly because acting out of trauma is rarely a good idea. Secondly, because a full reality must be imparted including that projections are based on modeled outputs, and modeling complex systems is inherently problematic, there are many problems facing humanity, and resources must be rationally allocated between all.

Sorry but children pre-12 actually can’t grasp ‘clear terms’ so easy when the terms are about something clearly abstract or existential.

They may grasp the idea of death but seldom is it not terrifying to them as genetically it takes a while to overcome the dna-imprinted anxiety of body failure.

So perhaps there’s a certain age before which u are advised to be very careful with what actually is being said to a child.

I've been terrified of dying since I realized there was no god when I was about 7. It's not really anything anyone needs to tell you. In fact, the lies tend to expose the problems of belief systems, at least to rather intelligent, skeptical little kids. I'll be 38 next month and I can't say that it's really gotten any better.

Time to reinvent GOD and eternal life then. Perhaps also time to consult and check whether it's a mid-life crisis, or something wrong with sleep cycles or overworking. I really wish u get better soon.

As a child I was wholly educated in the certainty that my life was in imminent danger of a nuclear Armageddon... Maybe your "honest with children" about climate change is a hint that they're more likely to have to deal with nuclear winter than anything.

Hence: the best preparation is wide skills and can-do attitude, not ruminations on clueless adults' "honesty"?

What do you think?

Among other things, childhood trauma and fear negatively impact learning outcomes. I'm not against presenting accurate information in an age-appropriate way, but it definitely shouldn't "impact them so heavily." I would think by highschool they are more ready for heavier subjects.

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