# Children — Some Thoughts Concerning Education character guide > Children in Some Thoughts Concerning Education by John Locke. **Role:** major **Also known as:** children, theirs, their, Children, themselves, Their **First appearance:** 0001-some-thoughts-concerning-education ## Snapshot The restless minds Locke means to rescue from dead-language drills, set Latin themes, and verse-making that teach nothing but torment and empty invention. ## Who they are In Locke's treatise, children are not abstractions but the living test of every method he proposes — the boy sweating over a theme on a Latin tag he cannot understand, the pupil forced to versify who has no poetic vein, the young gentleman who should be learning to speak well on matters he actually knows. Their tension is with the schoolmasters who rack their invention for words before they have any sense, demanding bricks without straw. They matter because Locke's entire argument turns on whether education fits the child's capacity or crushes it. ## Relationships ### [The Great Masters](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/characters/the_great_masters) _professional_ Children are taught and disciplined by the great masters, who are their tutors or teachers. ### [A Child](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/characters/a_child) _social_ A child is part of the larger group of children, sharing similar experiences and learning environment. ### [People Strangers to Business](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/characters/people_strangers_to_business) _social_ Children are contrasted with adults unfamiliar with practical affairs, highlighting their need for worldly education. ### [Your Son](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/characters/your_son) _family_ Your son is a specific child among the general group of children, often used as an example for parental concern. ### [My Young Master](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/characters/my_young_master) _family_ My young master is a specific child under the narrator's care, part of the broader group of children. ### [Paradise](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/characters/paradise) _psychological_ Children are associated with paradise as an ideal state of innocence or a reward for proper education. ### [His Son](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/characters/his_son) _family_ His son is a specific child within the group, used to discuss individual differences in upbringing. ### [A Child](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/characters/a_child) _social_ A child is part of the larger group of children, sharing similar experiences and learning environment. ### [Paradise](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/characters/paradise) _psychological_ Children are associated with paradise as an ideal state of innocence or a reward for proper education. ### [The Great Masters](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/characters/the_great_masters) _professional_ Children are taught and disciplined by the great masters, who are their tutors or teachers. ### [People Strangers to Business](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/characters/people_strangers_to_business) _social_ Children are contrasted with adults unfamiliar with practical affairs, highlighting their need for worldly education. ### [The Great Masters](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/characters/the_great_masters) _professional_ Children are taught and disciplined by the great masters, who are their tutors or teachers. ## In the story ### [Dedication](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/chapters/dedication) Referenced as the subjects of education, whose early corruption is a general complaint and whose proper upbringing is a parental duty. ### [Some Thoughts Concerning Education](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/chapters/some-thoughts-concerning-education) Locke discusses how children's memories are often overloaded with rules they cannot understand or remember, and advocates for habit formation through repeated practice. ### [When Grammar Should Be Taught?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/chapters/when-grammar-should-be-taught) Children are discussed as learners who suffer when put into books beyond their capacity; they learn language insensibly through pleasant reading. ### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/chapters/endnotes) Referenced as the subjects of parental education in Roman and Greek tradition. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/characters/children - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/some_thoughts_concerning_education_se/characters