Moroni 6

Moroni 6: 1-2

And now I speak concerning baptism. Behold, elders, priests, and teachers were baptized; and they were not baptized unless they brought forth fruit meet that they were worthy of it. Neither did they receive any unto baptism save they came forth with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and witnessed unto the church that they truly repented of all their sins.

I remember when I was 6 my cousin was in my back yard flipping off the sky. He immediately dropped to his knees and asked God for forgiveness, then stood up and flipped him off again. I watched him do this for a minute and then, as kids do, I started copying him. He stopped me. He told me that I didn't need to repent cause I wasn't baptized yet. My cousin understood that when he sinned he should immediately repent, and he understood that as often as we repent we will be forgiven. But I don't think he quite grasped what it means to sincerely repent, or to have a contrite spirit and a broken heart.

As many other members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I was baptized when I was 8 years old. At this time did I really understand repentance? I probably had a pretty good grasp on it for an 8 year-old (I'd like to think it was better than my cousins). But is 8 too young to bring forth true fruit meet that they are worthy of baptism? My answer is, obviously not, or God would have told us not to baptize people until they are older. So that makes it the responsibility of the parents and teachers and other adult members of the church to teach children what it means to have a contrite spirit and a broken heart and to help them bring forth fruit worthy of baptism. I also am in favor of not letting some children get baptized until they show adequate understanding of these principles. I personally know one 7 year old girl, who I would not allow to be baptized unless she was able somehow have a change of heart. True children cannot sin. but innocence is not the same as righteousness. One disfavor we do to our children is by teaching them to itemize sin. Sins are not only actions but they are attitudes and once a child turns 8 they become accountable not only for what they do from that point on but for who they are. And it now becomes their personal responsibility (though obviously adults still have a great responsibility to help these children) to start the process of changing who they are, of becoming like the savior.
Is this a little extreme? I don't know, but I don't think that baptizing kids who have no idea what they are doing, does any good for anyone. It promotes an attitude in the church where we just do things cause it's the thing to do, the same reason many 19 year-old boys go on missions. I think that if we show our children just how important baptism is by making it something that they have to work at, they will grow a lot more, and have a much deeper understanding of repentance.
But for all of us who just did it cause we were 8 and everyone else in our Sunday school class already did it. We can still learn what it really means to come forth with a broken heart and a contrite spirit and truly witness to the church that we have repented of all of our sins. We can do this every Sunday as we partake of the sacrament and renew the covenants we made at baptism to take upon us the name of Christ and to follow him.
And if we make mistakes in any aspect of our lives, if we made mistakes when we were children, if we make mistakes in raising our children, if we, metaphorically speaking, flip off the heavens, we can always find forgiveness from God and from each other as church members, if we sincerely repent.

Moroni 6:8

But as oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven.