Cael,
Overriding is the correct word here.  Indeed, your point is the precise point of the gap between the bishops and the laity.  It would appear that the bishops see children as "units," perhaps in much the same way they see the rest of us.  In fact, their failure to understand the vulnerability, the effects of "imprinting" on a child, or even that childhood continues well beyond age 4 (as but a few examples) lays bare a whole lot of questions as to how the bishops see the laity in general.  Whether they intend to do so or not, it becomes pretty clear that their actions imply that they see the church and the bishops as a symbiotic role.

In that model, the laity is the larger body, to be fed upon, to nourish, and support the bishops, who in return, offer high level direction.  Sadly, their handling of children, suggests that the bishops can also be seen as parasites.  Key to it all, as this all plays out, is that it's pretty obvious that this is an "us versus them" kind of thing.