Henry Jenkins' message about the history and development of attitudes toward child-rearing in the 1950s is well-researched and thought out. I'd just add (in an offhand way) that attitudes toward children's "innate" goodness or wickedness have been a feature of Western society from at least the time of St. Augustine, but that American Puritan attitudes have been a particularly important factor in this country. The complexities of children's intelligence and willfulness have been examined by a number of writers. Probably the most striking figure is that of Pearl in THE SCARLET LETTER. For a more modern (and British) twist, don't forget Golding's THE LORD OF THE FLIES and the 1963 Peter Brook film. --Don Larsson, Mankato State U., MN