--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The practical question, then, is what to…" description: "\"The practical question, then, is what to do with the children. Tolerate them at home we will not. Let them run loose in the streets we dare not until o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00a/george-bernard-shaw-68_children_the-practical-question-then-is-what-to-d_2066185.png" --- # The practical question, then, is what to do with the… ![“The practical question, then, is what to do with the children. Tolerate them at home we will not. Let them run loose in the streets we dare not until our streets become safe places for children, which, to our utter shame, they are not at present, though they can hardly be worse than some homes and…” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00a/george-bernard-shaw-68_children_the-practical-question-then-is-what-to-d_2066185.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00a/george-bernard-shaw-68_children_the-practical-question-then-is-what-to-d_2066185.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00a/george-bernard-shaw-68_children_the-practical-question-then-is-what-to-d_2066185.png) > “The practical question, then, is what to do with the children. Tolerate them at home we will not. Let them run loose in the streets we dare not until our streets become safe places for children, which, to our utter shame, they are not at present, though they can hardly be worse than some homes and some schools.” [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society must protect children by improving homes, schools, and public safety rather than ignoring them. **In simple terms:** Children need safe environments at home and in public. Key Takeaway Address systemic failures to protect children. Themes responsibility child welfare public safety social reform Mood concerned determined Type advocacy social commentary When to use this quote - parenting - school administration - city planning - community activism Key Concepts social policy urban planning education family dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How can communities balance home and public safety for children? - What policies most effectively protect vulnerable youth? A Different Perspective Improving one area does not fix all problems; resources are limited. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Safe places](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safe-places/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) [Streets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streets/) ## Related quotes > [What we look for is not to fill empty places with children, but to fill empty children with a good place to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-sosa/what-we-look-for-is-not-to-fill-empty-places-with-children-but-to/) Eduardo Sosa > [“Children do not tolerate injustice and obey their parents. That will remain so as they get bigger. Only then they sometimes obey a voice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-beirens/children-do-not-tolerate-injustice-and-obey-their-parents-that-will/) A.J. Beirens > [I will not tolerate bad behavior from children, so why would I tolerate it from grown adults?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-zarin/i-will-not-tolerate-bad-behavior-from-children-so-why-would-i/) [Jill Zarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-zarin/) > [The streets are safe in Philadelphia, it's only the people that make them unsafe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-rizzo/the-streets-are-safe-in-philadelphia-it-s-only-the-people-that-make/) [Frank Rizzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-rizzo/) > [Our streets should be safe at all times. You shouldn't have to worry about things like knife or other crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sajid-javid/our-streets-should-be-safe-at-all-times-you-shouldn-t-have-to-worry/) [Sajid Javid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sajid-javid/) > [Let's think about Mexican streets: they're unsafe because of violence, so people stay at home. Does that make streets more or less safe? Less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emiliano-salinas/let-s-think-about-mexican-streets-they-re-unsafe-because-of-violence/) [Emiliano Salinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emiliano-salinas/) > [The streets are safe in Philadelphia. It's only the people who make them unsafe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-rizzo/the-streets-are-safe-in-philadelphia-it-s-only-the-people-who-make/) [Frank Rizzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-rizzo/) > [It's in my own interest - it's in everybody's interest - to have streets that are safe, children that are educated, and drug use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-skoll/it-s-in-my-own-interest-it-s-in-everybody-s-interest-to-have-streets/) [Jeffrey Skoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-skoll/) > [“In these writings, and in all my teaching work, I continue to ask the question, “What about the children?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-j-lachance/in-these-writings-and-in-all-my-teaching-work-i-continue-to-ask-the/) [Albert J. LaChance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-j-lachance/) > [“The answer to the question ‘How many children do you have?’ and the one to the question ‘How many children are you raising?’ are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/the-answer-to-the-question-how-many-children-do-you-have-and-the-one/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Children just feel emotions and their reasoning mind doesn’t interpret or question them. This is why children accept certain people and reject other people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-ruiz/children-just-feel-emotions-and-their-reasoning-mind-doesn-t/) [Miguel Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-ruiz/) > [“What makes life worth living? No child asks itself that question. To children life is self-evident. Life goes without saying: whether it is good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-ove-knausgard/what-makes-life-worth-living-no-child-asks-itself-that-question-to/) [Karl Ove Knausgård](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-ove-knausgard/) > [ My job \[is\] to awaken possibility in other people. If their eyes are shining, you know you're doing it. If they're not shining you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-zander/my-job-is-to-awaken-possibility-in-other-people-if-their-eyes-are/) [Benjamin Zander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-zander/) > [“The main question for us and our children is not, “What do they believe?” Rather, the operative question is, “What do they love?” Salvation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chap-bettis/the-main-question-for-us-and-our-children-is-not-what-do-they-believe/) Chap Bettis > [If you don’t learn how to cry, you cannot be a good Christian. When they posed this question to us – why children suffer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/if-you-don-t-learn-how-to-cry-you-cannot-be-a-good-christian-when/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) ## More by George Bernard Shaw > [I love little children too but I don't cut off their heads and stick them in vases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-love-little-children-too-but-i-don-t-cut-off-their-heads-and-stick/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Blasphemy and sedition (meaning the truth about Church and State).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/blasphemy-and-sedition-meaning-the-truth-about-church-and-state/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of life, man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-life-man-invents-nothing-but-in-the-arts-of-death-he/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-a-man-believes-may-be-ascertained-not-from-his-creed-but-from/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. 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Satisfaction is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-long-as-i-have-a-want-i-have-a-reason-for-living-satisfaction-is/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [A man who is not a communist at the age of twenty is a fool. Any man who is still communist at the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-man-who-is-not-a-communist-at-the-age-of-twenty-is-a-fool-any-man/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person’s thumb are two different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/but-to-admire-a-strong-person-and-to-live-under-that-strong-person-s/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/socialism-is-the-same-as-communism-only-better-english/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The person who is ignorant enough to believe that his nourishment depends on meat is in a horrible dilemma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-person-who-is-ignorant-enough-to-believe-that-his-nourishment/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of peace Man is a bungler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-peace-man-is-a-bungler/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) [Explore all 1,640 George Bernard Shaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## More Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. 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