Page 150 - Meeting with Children Book

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and not because you get punished for it by adults. Saying
something by "mistake" or someone having a difference of
opinion is also now considered, and it does not mean that
someone is telling a lie.

During late childhood, autonomous morality may begin.
This is where children start to understand that there is no
absolute right or wrong and that morality can depend on
intentions and not simply consequences. By the age of 9-
10, Piaget thought that children's understanding of moral
issues began to reorganize as they were far less egocentric
and could see things from other people's point of view.
Children begin to make more independent judgments as
they realize that people make rules and they can change
them. At the same time, the older the child, the more that
child knows that rules are needed in games for instance, so
that things can be fair and less conflict oriented. They also
know that you can modify rules so to accommodate fewer
people in a game.

In late childhood children consider others' motives and not
just consequences when judging a situation. If you do
something wrong, but for the right reason, for instance, a
person may not be punished. The same type of moral
reasoning applies when evaluating a malicious act that did
not end up harming anyone. This latter act is likely to
deserve a punishment. Punishment is now viewed as
helping another understand the harm he caused rather
than to make the person "suffer". Subjective facts and an
internal sense of responsibility comes on-line.

Related to justice, children in middle to late childhood begin
to realize that things are not always fair and sometimes
innocent people are punished. They also realize that
punishments should "fit the crime". They no longer agree
with group or collective punishment as this means that