The Innocence Of Children: Why It Is So Important – And How We Can Protect It

Dennis discusses the importance of raising children in today’s complex world in his eloquent and inimitable style. Children should be allowed to remain innocent as long as possible, Dennis contends. Parents should do everything in their power to ensure this. But it’s not easy to be a parent today.

Major Points of the Lecture:

1. Parents must allow children to remain who he is. That is to “naturally progress” into the type of person he would become.

2. There’s a time to be a child and there’s a time to be an adult. ¥ If one misses out of childhood, something will be missing forever. As a foundation is to a building, childhood is the base of a productive life.

3. In today’s society, parents went from protecting to preparing their children. The idea that one prepares children for adulthood at six years old is “stupid”.

4. Parents today scare their children too much, i.e. smoking, death, AIDS, strangers. Dennis believes parents undo their children’s security by bombardment of fears.

5. Dennis discusses Michael Medved’s three important criteria in raising children: Security, Optimism, Sense of Wonder.

6. Dennis believes the greatest robber of children’s innocence is television.

7. Dennis discusses religion and his belief that God engenders a sense of security. Furthermore, Dennis believes that today’s fears have everything to do with the secularization of America.

Time: 86:47

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