Although Atticus did not want his children in court, he defends Jem's right to know what has happened. Explain Atticus' reasons for this .

Atticus' reasoning is very simple and comes from his desire to treat his children maturely so they will act maturely. The town has been abuzz about the trial for a while, and Atticus believes the children (especially Jem, who is starting to grow up and realize the implications of some of these events) have a right to know what's going on--what their father is doing, why he's doing it, why the rest of the town is so against it. Atticus believes that if he is honest with his children and inspires intelligence and understanding, they will rise to meet these expectations. Atticus never wants the kids to believe the little lies that parents tell children just because the children aren't old enough.