Any parent will tell you that a great deal of wisdom can come from the mouths of children – especially when we listen carefully.

It’s a lesson that is sometimes difficult to learn and hard for many adults to admit. But the truth is, children’s perspectives are often much less tarnished by the warts and bruises that adult experiences bring.

With that in mind we were thrilled this week when a commission studying Mississippi’s controversial state flag suggested bringing high school students into the debate.

This year, after decades of squabble and debate, Gov. Ronnie Musgrove appointed a commission to study the flag issue. The commission’s goal is to offer ideas for either keeping the current design — which includes a portion of the Confederate Battle Flag — or replacing the symbol. And now the commission has brought our youth into the fray. What a wonderfully refreshing idea.

Who better to help make a rational, unbiased decision on the future of the state flag than those students who will be asked to live beneath the fluttering symbol?

A normal high school student today was born in the early 1980s — more than two decades after the turbulent, violent-filled decade of the 1960s.

Perhaps the students will have a clear vision for the future of our state — one devoid of the racial bigotry and oppression that stained our past.

Maybe the students can provide what’s long been missing from the flag debate — a little wisdom.