Children Dhamma: Starting Young

One school day, I saw a big group of young boys and girls in school during school hours, all robed up in white. Someone told me those were school students, learning the ropes of going to Mecca, a city in Saudi Arabia near the coast of the Red Sea which is revered as the holiest site of Islam. The city is a destination of a pilgrimage required of all Muslims who can afford to go and the Muslim students were taught the ropes young and in school too; which I thought was a marvellous idea. In Thailand, a Buddhist country, every Thai male aged 20 and above from a Buddhist family is expected to be ordained as a monk for a period of time as the Thais believe that being ordained as a Buddhist monk is a great way to gain merits. Perhaps, 20 is too late to start learning about one's religion. It is not an issue of wanting to gain merits here; it is just that good tenets should be taught early to ingrain. Otherwise, bad habits wil gain entry and become entrenched, and in some unfortunate caes, remain forever to rub on other unfortunate souls...