John Locke thought that children were born without any knowledge. He thought the mind is "tabula rasa", or blank slate. This means that the mind is like a blank piece of paper when someone is born. Children get knowledge in life and fill up the blank paper. Locke thought that the only way that children get knowledge is from doing different things in life and getting experience from those things. Locke’s ideas on how children get knowledge changed how people thought about children. His belief was that learning should be fun rather than a task. "Children [should be] free to be childish,” wrote Locke. Locke's ideas were opposed to church principles, strictly believing children should be reading fables and not religious texts. Children were seen in a better way and got more respect from adults. Locke wanted parents to spend more time with their children and help them learn. He thought that children’s development of knowledge needed parents to help children experience new things and teach about those things. Locke pushed nurture as the most important part of child development.