ABSTRACT
In the place of some monumental conception of absolute truth and justice, for which human beings always hanker, children witness the frustration of having their own point of view diminished or disbelieved. The dangers of the playground are also observed and commented on as taking place in the streets, often with older children ‘picking’ on younger ones. The dangers of the playground are also observed and commented on as taking place in the streets, often with older children ‘picking’ on younger ones. The world that children experience contains many contrasts, between fear and trust, threat and security. Economic understanding derives fundamentally from children’s unsupported attempts to understand the workings of society. Children’s understanding of the economic system is sometimes characterised as being naive. The extremes of the rich and poor are well known, but all children suggest that their own circumstances are somewhere in the middle.
