{"id":7424,"date":"2006-09-11T21:26:06","date_gmt":"2006-09-12T02:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=7424"},"modified":"2024-11-17T21:46:02","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T03:46:02","slug":"can-small-children-commit-morally-wrong-acts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-small-children-commit-morally-wrong-acts\/","title":{"rendered":"Can small children commit morally wrong acts?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Can small children actually commit morally wrong acts?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

It depends on the age and ability of the child, but in general, the answer is, unfortunately, “yes.” There are cases mentioned in the paper of children as young as eight or ten committing murder with guns. “They cited the example of Nathaniel Abrahams, a young black boy who has experienced many disappointments from his parents. Nathaniel rebelled and began to commit crimes at the age of eleven. He killed, robbed, and flashed guns to intimidate. He was later arrested and charged with an adult crime.” [“Why Juveniles Commit Crimes<\/a>” by Joseph A. Wickliffe]. Not long ago, I talked with a distraught mother whose four-year-old was sexually molested by the five-year-old child of a friend. It was shocking and nauseating, but very sadly, all too true. As every parent can attest, a small child will, on occasion, tell lies. See the questions and answers section at the end of “Five to Nine Year Olds: Responsibility Training<\/a>” to see that it does happen.<\/p>\n

The question should not be “Can a child commit a morally wrong act?” because the evidence is plain that they do; instead, the question should be “Does a child who commits a morally wrong act know what he is doing?” For very young children, the answer is “no.” Oh, a child who tells a lie at age five knows that he didn’t tell the truth, but he doesn’t know the concept of right and wrong. He might see it as a way to manipulate others, to avoid punishment, or to gain something he wants. It is much like a child who becomes frightened by a television show. He can tell you that it is a TV show, but he isn’t able to truly distinguish between make-believe and reality. Thus, he can tell you that it is a make-believe story, but it is still scary because it might happen to him.<\/p>\n

In the Bible, this is referred to as possessing the knowledge of good and evil. God punished the Israelites for rebelling against Him by having them wander in the wilderness for forty years until that generation died off. However, He stated, “Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it<\/em>” (Deuteronomy 1:39). The children might have imitated their parents in saying rebellious words, but God did not hold them accountable because they were too young to know better.<\/p>\n

Exactly when a child gains the ability to make moral judgments is hard to say. See some of the past answers on the topic of “Age of Accountability<\/a>” for a detailed discussion. Until a child reaches the age to make moral decisions on his own, it is up to his parents to guide him in making the appropriate decisions — giving him encouragement in making good choices and punishing bad choices.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Can small children actually commit morally wrong acts? Answer: It depends on the age and ability of the child, but in general, the answer is, unfortunately, “yes.” There are cases mentioned in the paper of children as young as eight or ten committing murder with guns. “They cited the example of Nathaniel Abrahams, a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[434,110,179],"class_list":["post-7424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-age-of-accountability","tag-children","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1952,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/at-what-age-is-a-person-accountable\/","url_meta":{"origin":7424,"position":0},"title":"At what age is a person accountable?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are you trying to say the adult age or the age of accountability would either be around age 20 or in the teens? Are you also saying that the Bible doesn't mention a specific age of accountability? What age do you believe it is? Because some people don't understand\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89671,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-send-someone-to-jail-knowing-that-they-will-likely-die-there\/","url_meta":{"origin":7424,"position":1},"title":"Is it wrong to send someone to jail knowing that they will likely die there?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Mr Hamilton, I hope you're doing well. I had a question if you don't mind answering. My wife and I recently had a trial against her rapist, and he got sentenced to 50 years in prison with all his charges. She heard it's a sin to sentence someone\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2868,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-spanking-a-thirteen-year-old-child-illegal\/","url_meta":{"origin":7424,"position":2},"title":"Is spanking a thirteen-year-old child illegal?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 22, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is spanking a thirteen-year-old child illegal? Answer: As of this writing, spanking remains legal in all fifty states of the United States. Almost all state statutes state that a parent or guardian can use reasonable and appropriate force to maintain discipline and to promote the well-being of a child's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26366,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-age-of-accountability-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":7424,"position":3},"title":"The Age of Accountability (Overby)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0by Ben Overby The Bible is clear in teaching that we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). Therefore, to suggest we are born sinful is to say that God is sinful.\u00a0 We know that God is sinless, therefore, when we begin our journey in this world we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28333,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-are-the-age-ranges-defined-in-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":7424,"position":4},"title":"How are the age ranges defined in the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can you tell me what the Bible says concerning growing into a man? I've heard that an adolescent or a child was from 0-19, and that ages 20-39 were considered a young man, and that 40 and over was adulthood. Can you help me with scriptures or even necessary\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25997,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-thing-which-ought-not-to-be-done\/","url_meta":{"origin":7424,"position":5},"title":"A Thing Which Ought Not to Be Done","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton The newspapers and talk radio have been commenting about a lawsuit in Blair, Nebraska. It seems that a young man of 16 got a young woman of 15 pregnant. She did not realize it until she was 23 to 27 weeks into the pregnancy. Her family\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Dinah-1-204x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7424\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}