This quote from Jean Baudrillard's "Images and Simulation" succinctly captures a fundamental contradiction in societal expectations placed upon children. It highlights the paradoxical role that society imposes on young individuals — to be both independent and yet compliant, free-thinking and yet conformist. This tension shapes much of the socialization process, affecting how children learn to position themselves within the social order.

On one hand, children are encouraged to develop their autonomy: to think critically, exercise freedom of choice, and assume personal responsibility. This nurtures individual subjectivity, the core of identity formation and empowerment. It implies an active engagement with the world, fostering originality and conscious self-governance.

On the other hand, children are simultaneously expected to be submissive and conforming, obedient to authority and social norms, essentially becoming 'objects' to the will of existing structures. This demand for passivity and compliance suppresses true autonomy, forcing children to mask or dampen the very qualities they are meant to cultivate.

The coexistence of these opposing requirements reveals the complex dynamics of power and control inherent in educational and societal institutions. It calls attention to the performative nature of social roles — where children must 'constitute themselves' differently depending on context or expectation. Ultimately, the quote provokes reflection on how freedom and obedience coexist uneasily within systems that shape identity, raising questions about authenticity and the cost of societal integration for the developing self.