It would be hard to stop them, if anybody questions this practise the Jedi can just use mind tricks and make anybody support it

What, exactly, do you mean by "brainwashing" in this context? In other words, where do you draw the line between "teaching them a certain set of ethical principles" on the one hand, and "brainwashing" on the other? Don't most children learn a certain set of principles from the adults who are responsible for raising them? (Parents, legal guardians, the staff at an orphanage, or whatever.) Does that mean, from your perspective, that all children get "brainwashed," and it's just a matter of deciding who has the right to do it, and what sets of principles they should be allowed to teach the kids?

@Lorendiac The line is obvious. Normal children play with toys, not weapons.

@Lobo That makes it sound as if you're saying "allowing a kid to turn on a lightsaber means you are brainwashing him. If the Jedi did everything else the same, except the kid wasn't allowed to activate a lightsaber before a certain age, that would not have been brainwashing." Is that really your position?

@Lorendiac I gave you an example. Jedi project the Sith as bad guys without giving any logic. You can't absolutely declare a group bad. If this is not brainwashing, what is? Windu was so brainwashed that he tried to assassinate an elected head of state without trial just because he was a Sith. Jedi call themselves peacekeepers and yet they are the first to attack. See the original battle between Obi-Wan and Vader and you'll see that Vader was only defending.

Because if they didn't the younglings would turn to the Dark side. Better ours than theirs right?

Why does every nation in the world brainwash all children beginning at the age of four or five and continuing until the ages of 16-18?

@Lobo If we're measuring it across recorded history and prehistory to the extent we are aware of it, "normal" children have played with weapons and farming tools and equipment a lot more than they have played with toys.

@tbrookside The Galactic Republic is a civilized and evolved society where normal toys are normal toys. Even in the outer rims, children used to play with harmless robots (we've canon evidence for that).

@Shreedhar From The Galactic Republic's perspective, Sith weren't "theirs".. The Jedi weren't the government.

But they are part of the Republic. Jedi are taught to protect the Republic as much as, if not more than the Jedi Order itself. And the Republic clearly trusts them a great deal in return, at least until the Clone Wars.

There are historical examples, such as the Janissaries.

@Lobo How are you able to know what a galactic-scale society would consider civilized and evolved?

Why do parents send their kids to school? Why do nations mandate that kids get sent to school to be "brainwashed" to learn specific beliefs and historical information and principles? This all points back to the very basis of the OP's question. My position: the kids were sent to the Jedi to learn about how to use the Force as they were discovered to be Force-sensitive. Thus they had gifts they needed to know how to use. The Jedi had, at this point in time, become arrogant and clouded in their judgement and had forgotten the true ways of the force (unlike Qui Gonn) their predecessors taught.

The Jedi were simply teaching the kids how to use their gifts for good. They were bad examples from the standpoint of their clouded arrogance of authority yes, but compare that to the Sith who teach their students to just blatantly use the force to destroy if necessary to get what you want..........I'd want to send my child to the Jedi for training if choosing between the two. Also............those weren't TRUE lightsabers. They were training-level sabers.

@MissouriSpartan If you are born force-sensitive, you aren't limited to be either Jedi or Sith. You can choose to be neither and try to use the Force your own way (this isn't binary that if you go for emotional attachment, you end up killing people). But, if your right to choose is taken away, it's injustice.

That's where there are cases of this. Rey for example. She survived on her own for years as a force-sensitive and CHOSE to be a Jedi. There are "Gray" Jedi out there too, who care neither about the Dark side or the Light but accomplish things in their own way. But how effective could someone be with little to no education (your assertion of freedom in this question) at all vs someone who knows how to do many things with the Force because someone taught them? This is my base point

@MissouriSpartan You aren't getting my point. It's not about effectiveness. It's about choice. A human body is a great weapon if utilized correctly, but lots of people won't want to get martial art or ninja trainings. Also, Jedi training comes in full package and that's the problem. They won't teach you individual courses. If I want to learn basic lightsaber skill or simply mind trick, why should I not fall in love? This is ridiculous.

@MissouriSpartan those weren't TRUE lightsabers. They were training-level sabers. ~> I believe they were real. I remember an episode from Clone Wars cartoon in which younglings were given task to find crystals for lightsaber and they even build real lightsaber in the end. If you have proper canon citation proving they weren't real lightsabers, answer this: scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/218512/…

Being a Jedi (or Sith) isn't about "individual courses". It's a dedication to a lifestyle. It's a religion in its own right. A religion to open, emotional, raw power, or to self-controlled, clarified desire to help others and keep peace. It's not college and it's not even boarding school. It's people who openly desire to learn that lifestyle. Case in point: I doubt any of those children were there against their will. They were ready and excited to learn the ways of the Light side of the Force, and many (like Kylo Ren) might have decided to switch sides later.

@Lobo Can you provide a canon source to back up the assertion that an "age of consent" is even a construct of this fictional universe?