One son chose the issue ‘whether 12-year-olds should be allowed to drive.’
I'm not seeing the benefit we will get from a definition such as ‘children who are older than 11 and younger than 13’ I think he should change the whether question to something more general than 12-year olds.
Is definition supposed to help us refine the issue?
Is it supposed to help us see when the issue needs to be more specific or more general?
When we did the definition for a football(A ball used to play the game of football), my oldest son felt like we hadn’t defined it because we hadn’t described it very well. What should I say to him about this?
The process of defining will not always give great insight into the issue. It's a good experience for a person to encounter those occasions when it doesn't. Over time he'll be able to anticipate them.
To the older son, I would suggest affirming his insight and asking him how we would better define it. A perfect learning opportunity.
Then I would privately encourage him to understand that he can easily understand some things that his younger siblings cannot and therefore he must be responsible for him on occasion. Also, the principle applies upward, so he must trust your judgment and obey even when he doesn't understand.
