Thank you. I'm glad I'm not the only one who understands the importance of childhood.

I never said it was definitively the case. I was speaking from experience, of which I have a reasonable amount. For example, I was a brownie assistant, worked in a primary school, and have children them myself. I definitely didn't say children were stupid. As with adults, it will vary from child to child. The majority of children do not watch the news, nor read the paper or listen to the radio, so one can assume that they heard it from people they know. Regardless, given they won't be researching the topic to find out facts, they will simply be repeating something they have heard somewhere. The negativity and hate you speak of are where these children are hearing what they are repeating. Childhood is precious and fleeting, it shouldn't be taken away by worry. To put it simply, they are too immature to comprehend and deal with the harder side of life. It doesn't make them stupid. Immaturity and intelligence are different things.