I don't know how I feel about this. Watergate was exceedingly hard for me (I was in high school when the shit hit the fan) because I believed in the system. I knew the government had problems (I remember the summer of 1968 very well. I was 11), but I didn't know how bad it could be. I think most kids realize that adults are not superhuman when they're about five or six. They can see through you pretty well. I'm still a cornball old person, though, and I hate to see people become jaded and lose hope. The loss of innocence to me means becoming someone who doesn't have anything/anyone to believe in or care about. That is really damaging. The rest of it--knowing how cruel people can be and also the flip side--how generous and good people can be just prepares you for life.

As for the kid who didn't know about the Holocaust--what stupid parents don't teach their kids about history? We took our son to the Anne Frank house when he was seven. We thought that would be the way to introduce the whole topic to him without overwhelming him with that information. We were in Amsterdam as part of our vacation that year, so it was the right place/right time thing. He studied the Holocaust in 8th grade and then we dragged him to the museum in DC.