What's your background?

[Tiberius]

The Dawkins documentary on Faith Schools presented the idea that children at that age are more likely to make arguments based on perceived purpose rather than the observed evidence. One of the examples used was asking children "Why is water still in lakes?" and giving them the option of either "So that small animals aren't washed away when they are drinking" or "Because there are no moving streams of water entering the lake". Most children choose the first answer, which makes me wonder if at that age they are able to distinguish between what is natural, and what is artificial (man-made). We teach our children about things by telling them what they are used for; what their purpose is. I'm sure children that age could make decisions about what they believe, but whether those decisions were made for the right reasons is unlikely in my opinion.