Teaching children virtues is difficult. They cannot readily see the benefits of being good, working hard or eating one's vegetables. But paying a child to practise a virtue only reinforces the morally erroneous idea that one should be good if one gets material gain from it. That sort of thinking can hardly be seen as fit for producing upright individuals.
The Department of Health yesterday said it will pay schoolchildren as young as 12 to encourage classmates to eat their vegetables. The four-year campaign is to promote the Canada Food Guide that recommends Canadians drink tap water and eat more carrots, nuts and seeds: ‘It will instill lifelong healthy eating habits.’
First of all, that is what parents are for. Secondly, show these kids pictures of children in Third World countries and their lack of any diet, even a balanced one. That sort out a few things.
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