I would change that to read "as well as LETTING the find out for
themselves, if that is what they want". Not too many kids, I'd bet, would
actually go running out into the street to get themselves run over after
you've told them about what could happen.
> but we tell them at an earlier age than that at
> which they're capable of comprehending things
> like inertia and relative velocities, simply
> because we're realistic about the ages at
> which they become so capable, and at which
> they're likely to be around traffic, recogising
> that the latter is likely to be somewhat less
> than the former.
Again, I don't see why, if the child asks, you shouldn't provide as much
information about the situation as they want. If the child of 5 wants to
know WHY cars hurt, I'm quite sure I could convey to them concepts like
inertia, force, acceleration, etc. without much trouble. They really are
all intuitive things anyhow. Of course, it's not really likely that the
child will be that interested.
ERiC