You say this, but unless you are prepared to spend time teaching them about all the world's religions, YOU made the choice for them.
Btw, I find that most atheists ARE children who have made up their minds about religion. That is, if they didn't have parents repeat that stupid sentiment while forbidding they go to church.
So no danger of that. Either they were exposed to fundamentalist "you will burn in hell" religion and defected from it, had parents who told them they had a choice all the while being emotionally manipulative about the choice they made instead of respecting it, or they were the bratty kids who screamed and cried until they were taken out of church meaning the mom or dad had to miss the sermon while watching after them.
If it were my kid, I'd be like "fine you wanna make a choice, make it alone." And put them in the car and come back without them. So you know, I'm basically the theist equivalent of a parent who says " you should have a choice" then sneers or belittles you for choosing religion, but I'm honest with myself about it. You wanna carry on until you get your way, fine, but I'm not staying with you there. You get to learn about the loneliness of atheism.
This is but one of the reasons why I don't have children, besides wanting to skip the diaper phase.
Here's the thing that's missed with all of this talk of choice. I can pin down predictably which kids not only become atheists but also prevent their parents from attending church. They're the holy terrors that scream and cry so much that the parent who have no backbone and worry about what others think, stop going to church entirely.
Kids should have a choice? Oh yes, it's an easy buzzword. But the truth is, far too many kids already have chosen, not just for themselves but for their parents too. And very few atheists that say this have the courage to teach their kids about Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, paganism (Greek/Roman), Islam, Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, religious Taoism, Zen Buddhism, Mohism, animism, Amish belief, Nordic paganism, Egyptian religion, Aum Shinrikyo, Shintoism, Chinese ancestor worship, and this isn't the whole list.
A List of All Religions and Belief Systems
Without asserting their own bias and trying to make everything look stupid in comparison to atheism. Not much of a choice there if you either don't tell about it, or give the quick "these people thought their leader rose from the dead" saying it without explanation and so it makes them sound crazy. When given an honest choice, do most people become theists or atheists? As seen from my mentality on children, you know there are never honest choices. You can't show the kid all world religions without making significant excursions, and parents that leave their kids alone if they want to be bratty and cry their way out of church (like me) or parents that say "you have a choice" while sneering at their choice exist.
