Does teaching critical thinking to kids make them less able to be controlled?

YES

“A key component of critical thinking is the ability to evaluate the statements of other people. Because information that is obtained from others is not always accurate, it is important that children learn to reason about it critically.”: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951681/

Depends on the child

It does call into question the common parental explanation of “because I said so”.

It makes them harder to control by lazy parents. But in the long run it makes them better humans.

“Because I said so” is not that common @LostInParadise, but some times it’s necessary.

Tough question, I’ll have to think about it… critically.
What should I say?