From Paul Graham, Lies We Tell Kids:

We arrive at adulthood with a kind of truth debt. We were told a lot of lies to get us (and our parents) through our childhood. Some may have been necessary. Some probably weren't. But we all arrive at adulthood with heads full of lies.

There's never a point where the adults sit you down and explain all the lies they told you. They've forgotten most of them. So if you're going to clear these lies out of your head, you're going to have to do it yourself.

This has got me thinking about the lies we tell our munchkins.  I'm not sure there are any - certainly, keeping them out of school saves them from the worst of it - but we need to monitor more carefully.  I'd rather my kids were confused than pacified, generally.

There are some lies to children that are necessary.  The one about electrons orbiting nuclei like planets orbiting the sun is necessary to get the hang of chemical valence without getting bogged down in quantum physics, which is a science that's probably still in the four-humours-and-philosopher's-stone stage of its development.  But unlike my school teachers, it would be nice to be told "this is an approximation, you need to pretend it's the truth for now and if you like we can cover the reality after the lesson is over".

This reminds me of Alan C Dexter, my maths teacher in year eight or nine.  We were going through some algebra on the blackboard, presumably simplifying equations or somesuch.  I asked if such-and-such an equation could be reduced down to so-and-so.  Mr Dexter looked at me, and looked at the board, and said, "Hmmm! Good question!" and proceeded to do some working out on the board.  I was dazzled by the stuff he was doing - he was using techniques we hadn't been exposed to, and using shortcuts I'd never seen.  I only grasped a tenth of it at best. When he'd finished, he said, "No, that's not equivalent - but it was a very good try!"  He turned around to erase his working and I shouted out, "Hang on!  What was that you just did there?"  He turned back: "You're not up to that yet. Don't get sidetracked."  And he rubbed it all out.

If he'd said, "It's called calculus, and it's complicated. Come back after class and I'll show you, but don't worry if it's a bit advanced," then I would have come back, and I would have learned something.  But he was convinced that kids aged 14 don't get to learn stuff that's meant for kids aged 16, so he shut me down.

Which isn't quite about Lies To Children, but it's close.  Maybe the connecting thread is: treating children like they're retarded and useless is foolish.  The fact that it's frequently also a self-fulfilling prophecy -- that's just poetic justice for the parents who'll one day need to rely on the next generation to change their bedpans and administer their pills...