The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child asserts the child's right to identity, privacy, freedom of thought and beliefs, but also a right to protection. In the Swedish curricula for pre-school and school (Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden, 1994, 1998), it is stated that children should be treated with respect and that all education should be based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This article deals with children's right to integrity in early education. The aim is to analyse the tension between how to respect and protect the young child's integrity and how to guide the child in learning and respecting others. The analysis is based on a number of studies dealing with morality from the perspectives of children and teachers in early education. Respect for children's integrity is discussed in terms of a complex relationship between personal and cultural views of children and childhood, conceptions of the pedagogical assignment and the structures and organisation of pre-school and school.