ABSTRACT
Young children are initiated into the sense of membership and the understanding of alienation subtly, automatically and undeliberately. The problem with understanding the nature of children’s experience, as presented by the nature/nurture divide, is a problem faced by the children themselves. There are a host of perceptual images, that are far less easy to control and measure than verbal understanding but which, like words, form their own network of meanings. The constant acquisition of knowledge means that children’s theories of mind and understanding are continually undergoing change. Children adapting to prejudice and stereotyping can easily be blamed on their parents and society. Children are quick to seize on the agreed rules of a game, the discipline of action which is neither moral nor immoral. Children’s early explorations of theories of mind, of points of view, quickly reveal contradiction and conflicts.
