Rousseau begins by comparing children to fruit. Parents must “cultivate and water their young plant before it dies; its fruit will one day be your delight.” In other words, children must have tender care and be watched over, if they are raised incorrectly, society will not benefit from their labours. Parents must be weary because others can influence their child, so they need to place mental barriers in the child’s mind. Children are first children before they are men and they must first experience how to be a child before learning how to become a man. Perverting this order would result in bad fruit that has no flavor and will quickly spoil. Rousseau seems to have a permissive view on parenting, by stating that children should not be punished
