2,480. A Child Who Violates Halacha

Maachalos Assuros 17:27

If a child eats a prohibited food or performs a prohibited action on Shabbos, the court isn’t obligated to stop him because he’s not considered to have legal capacity. This is the case when he acts on his own; an adult is not permitted to feed him prohibited things, not even those prohibited rabbinically. One may likewise not accustom a child to violating Shabbos and yom tov, not even by doing things prohibited solely because of their similarities to actual labors.

Maachalos Assuros 17:28

Even though the court need not distance a child from violations, his father is commanded to chastise him in order to make him stop and learn proper conduct, as per Proverbs 22:6, “Teach a child according to his way.”