There is a conflicting world view between the two generations – the casualness of the child as compared to the materialism of the adult. However, the demarcating line between the two shifts as the child grows older. The happy-go-lucky spirit of children conflicts with the materialism of the adults. Most children are happy and contended early on in life. As they grow older, this light-hearted view of life tends to be discarded as unrealistic. It is only later that they are taught the rites and rituals of a complex society – and discord and disharmony enter into their lives. The cosmopolitan outlook of the child encompasses all nations, religions and races. Adulthood results in a loss of naiveté – and the discovery of differences between people. It also leads to the art of stereotyping people. In childhood, children are lovers of nature. In adulthood, they learn to justify violence, and they also learn of the necessity of war. With the passage of time, the children will grow into adults. How one wishes that the children remain young at heart forever! We should focus on the growing process, and how it forces the children to redefine themselves as they grow older. 
 

The world of children must be viewed through the eyes of the children themselves. The concerns of the children are many; their hopes and aspirations unchecked. The child has an inquisitive nature, and his questions must be answered even if the answers are incomplete. Or else, the child will be deprived of the truth, and his quest for knowledge dampened. The lure of greed does not divide the children of the world. But the child is not always master of his own destiny. In childhood, there is a pervasive outlook of hope – even as the child is confronted with larger than life problems, or brought face to face with dilemmas not always of his own making. The solutions that the children are offered are determined (to a large extent) by the help they receive from their peers and their elders. Life presents the child with another problem: they are not only as they see themselves, but more so as others see them. No names need to be mentioned; but it is not always possible to know who the child is, or what he stands for. What may be considered to be words of wisdom when uttered from the mouth of one held in high esteem, is transposed to a mere truism when spoken by a child (who is not so highly thought of).

Their inner thoughts – if not their spoken words – correspond to their urges and desires.

Each child has an independent viewpoint, a different method of expressing it. This becomes more noticeable as the child develops into an adult, assuming a new identity with the passage of time. One can notice the influence one child has on another, as they interact with each other. Thus, it is impossible to view the child in isolation, without taking note of the family, group and culture to which he belongs. The children tend to emulate, and act like their parents more and more as they grow older. This is due to a process of adjustment and assimilation.

The search for meaning, or the search for purpose, begins early on in life for children – the process we term education. The links of virtue are fastened in childhood itself, taking advantage of the innocence of youth, and of their willingness to learn. A humane society should not separate the children from their spirit of innocence. But from an early station in life (school), any group of students can be subdivided into two – the functioning adults and the innocents. This naturally gives the adults among the children (those who mature early) an early advantage in the education process. An education process that seems to be organized for their benefit alone. They progress further in life, and become more productive human beings…