Suffocating life itself

"To thwart a child's natural work, the visionaries of education have said, is to suffocate life itself.

In short, becoming a person is a full-time job. This is the real reason that forcing children to do adult work is so damaging: It not only exposes them to soul-killing tedium, but robs them of the time they need to become adults. They're deprived not only of the chance to go to school, but of the freedom to pursue their curiosity -- to engage in that crucial and illuminating project called play."

Read the complete editorial at StarTribune.com of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.