As A Responsible Parent ….

[naomi24]

… do you think it wise to instil fear into your children by teaching them that God watches everything they do, and that the devil exists?

[ummmm]

//an eternity of torment, hellfire, and death is something else entirely.//

I don't know anyone who was made to believe that...

[naomi24]

You don't know Goodlife and Keyplus.

[Khandro]

naomi; //I know a four year old who is obsessed with death because that's what the people around him talk about!//
I find that very doubtful; National Institute of Health stats;

Age 0 - 2 years:

•Sees death as separation or abandonment
•Has no cognitive understanding of death
•Feels despair from disruption of caretaking
Age 2 - 6 years:

•Often believes that death is reversible, temporary
•May perceive death as a punishment
•Engages in magical thinking that wishes come true -- may feel guilt for negative feelings toward the person who died, and think that was the cause of death
Age 6 - 11 years:

•Shows gradual understanding of irreversibility and finality of death
•Demonstrates concrete reasoning with ability to comprehend cause and effect relationship
Age 11 years or older:

•Understands that death is irreversible, universal, and inevitable
•Has abstract and philosophical thinking

[craft1948]

As a child I was brought up to believe that God loved me, I don't remember the devil being brought into the equation....

[jomifl]

craft, I expect the devil loves you too, just choose the right one:o)

[naomi24]

Khandro, balderdash! When adults bang on about death and graves and blood and torture and crucifixion, a four year old doesn’t need to understand the reality of death to be afraid of it. Use your common sense!

[jomifl]

I think that some of the mental cruelty (blackmail, threats etc.) is far worse than an appropriate physical punishment. I know several people who are mentally scarred by mental punishment decades later but physical punishments are long forgotten.

[beso]

Experience with my children and my eldest grand daughter is inconsistent with what Khandro posted from National Institute of Health stats. They fully understood the irreversability by age seven. Indeed my grand daughter specifically asked for confirmation when she was six.

The delayed understanding for some probably comes from being taught the twaddle of the resurrection myth or because they simply aren't told the facts. How many parents have told their children that grandma is "asleep"?

Children eventually work it out.

[beso]

My wife has a strong memory of seeing a life size statue of the crucified Jesus on the wall of a Catholic church when she was five years old. The memory of it disturbed her for many years.

[pixie373]

Definitely not. They do need to learn to look after themselves, for their own sake. There's no need to pretend they are constantly being watched. They will soon find out the truth and probably won't believe another word you say.