School
Child
Overview
A child (pl. children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of child generally refers to a minor, in this case as a person younger than the local age of majority (there are exceptions such as, for example, the consumption and purchase of alcoholic beverages even after said age of majority), regardless of their physical, mental and sexual development as biological adults. Children generally have fewer rights and responsibilities than adults. They are generally classed as unable to make serious decisions.
Child may also describe a relationship with a parent (such as sons and daughters of any age) or, metaphorically, an authority figure, or signify group membership in a clan, tribe, or religion; it can also signify being strongly affected by a specific time, place, or circumstance, as in "a child of nature" or "a child of the Sixties."
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
In the original texts
Passages from public-domain books where Child is discussed.
Olive oil gives aperient properties to the mother's milk, and thus serves to keep the child free from constipation. If the child is unwell, attention must be turned to the state of the mother's health. Administering drugs to the child is as good as murdering it, for the child with its delicate constitution, easily succumbs to their poisonous effects. Hence the medicine should be administered to the mother, so that…
Mahatma Gandhi, A Guide to Health
names the idea; a chapter is titled for it; states what it is; opens on it
And even where there is private ownership, do not allow the child to be mean or miserly when other children wish to be allowed to play with his things. As to this, however, the object is to induce the child to lend of his own free will; so long as authority is required, the end aimed at has not been achieved. In a happy child, it should not be difficult to stimulate a generous disposition; but if the child is…
Bertrand Russell, Education and the good life
names the idea; states what it is; opens on it
Thus a child working with any one thing does not have to be told when he makes a mistake how to correct it. He is confronted with an obvious problem, which is solved by his own handling of the material. The child is educating himself in that he sees his own mistakes and corrects them, and the finished result is perfect; partial success or failure is not possible.
John Dewey, Schools of to-morrow
names the idea; states what it is; opens on it
The child is simply absorbed in what he is doing; the occupation in which he is engaged lays complete hold upon him. He gives himself without reserve. Hence, while there is much energy spent, there is no _conscious_ effort; while the child is intent to the point of engrossment, there is no _conscious_ intention.
John Dewey, The school and society
names the idea; states what it is; opens on it
CHILD: Oh nurse! I don't want to die! NURSE: My dear, no one wants to die, and everybody dies. CHILD: Why, will mamma die too! NURSE: Yes, like everybody else. Women grow old as well as men, and old age ends in death. CHILD: What must I do to grow old very, very slowly? NURSE: Be good while you are little. CHILD: I will always be good, nurse. NURSE: So much the better. But do you suppose you will live for ever?…
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile
names the idea; opens on it
Related ideas
- Emile, or On Education
- India
- Industrial Revolution
- John Locke
- Authority
- Middle Ages
- Law
- Culture
- Oxford
- Oxford English Dictionary
- Compulsory education
- Psychology
- Religion
- Renaissance
- Protestantism
- Lewiston, New York
- Romanticism
- Lewis Carroll
- Singapore
- Age of Enlightenment
- Tabula rasa
- United Nations
- War
- William Wordsworth
Place in the tradition
Part of Philosophy of education.