Why did Jean-Jacques Rousseau believe children should be educated away from corrupting society?

Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that children should be educated away from society because he viewed contemporary civilization as a corrupting force that alienated humans from their original, pure nature. In his work Émile; or, On Education, he argued that society fosters artificiality, egoism, and inequality, which distort a child's natural development.123

By isolating the child, Émile, from the influence of "social man," Rousseau aimed to create an environment where the child could develop as a "natural man"—rational, moral, and social—while remaining true to his innate potential. Rather than being subjected to the formal, often harmful, instruction of society, the child learns through direct experience, physical activity, and the "book of the world," ensuring that his growth is guided by necessity and his own resources rather than the whims and prejudices of a corrupted civilization. Rousseau sought to protect the child's simplicity and spontaneity, allowing him to reach maturity with a conscience and sense of self authenticated by his own feelings rather than external authority.1234