AFAIK...

The concept of childhood innocence originated in Victorian times. There's a strong correlation if not causation between innocence and ignorance. There's a quote I've seen posted on our boards that goes something like:

A child is considered ignorant if she doesn't know the things that adults want her to know, and is considered innocent if she doesn't know the things that adults that adults don't want her to know

I don't remember the exact quote or who it came from, although I believe it was from a woman writer. Anyway, I thought she summed up that mentality rather well with that statement.

Children are blank slates to a certain extent, but their ignorance/innocence can be easily countered when an honest and open minded adult tells them like it is and provides them with an atmosphere of honesty, openness, and freedom. But unfortunately, that atmosphere is not provided to the vast majority of children. We provide them with lies, half truths, and all sorts of bullshit. Even a lot of adults are being lied to and kept ignorant, although to a lesser extent than children.