I Listen To My Parents And I Wonder What They Believe By Robert Coles

In Robert Coles’ “I Listen to My Parents and I Wonder What They Believe, Coles explains his theory on the importance of moral education and shares his opinion of children having moral independent thoughts. Coles teeters upon the idea that children need guidance yet independent processing for their moral standards. Although some individuals believe that life experiences or moral instruction alone directly affect children’s moral development; they both influence moral development. Life experiences permits children to mature and develop on their own. Although life experiences can assist in developing children’s morals, they alone cannot provide enough moral development. Within the text, Coles refers to the account of three children each with a different culture, background, and moral values. Each of the children’s life experiences provide a different outlook on moral standards. Unfortunately, children cannot learn from their mistakes alone, they must provide guidance and structure to build and strong moral foundation for their
Both come hand in hand; one without the other stunts the development of a child’s moral values. Failing to accomplish the equilibrium of life experiences and moral instruction will result in moral abdication of the parents. Providing a moral education includes allowing a child to figure it out on their own but teaching them the truth. While moral abdication is allowing a child to figure it out on their own without teaching them truth or only teaching them truth and not allowing children to figure it out on their own. Coles’ states, “Children need and long for words of moral advice, instruction, warning, as much as they need words of affirmation or criticism from their parents about other matters. They must learn how to dress themselves and what to wear, how to eat; and they must also learn how to behave under X or Y or Z conditions, and