The other pages in this section presented the argument for keeping some young, active children out of school. There are, however, arguments for keeping children in school:

Jewish children have always gone to school. Learning and knowledge was always our claim to superiority and excellence. Of course, that assumes that the educational system is qualified. Today's school system is weak, so children may be better doing things they do well.

Have you ever seen a young and very active child perform at a wedding or at another event? Should he be able to practice doing what he does best, or should he make a poor teacher suffer while trying to teach academic subjects?

Yes, there's more tolife than childhood entertainment. However, the current system makes it difficult for the child to achieve his youthful ambitions.

That will surely raise some counter-arguments. What should that child do during the day? Should he spend spend his perfecting his juggling skills? Perhaps he needs to learn the three Rs, so that he won't be an unlearned juggler. He also has limited time to practice those skills. When he grows older, he will no longer be a cute little juggler.

Financial expediency

The argument for wasting children's time because of financial expediency just does not hold water.

True, schools are in order to babysit younger children, so that the parents can go out to work. With older children, the issues become more questionable.

Children should not be sent home home to an empty house. On the other hand, if they do not have organized babysitters in the school system, then working parents will either neglect their children at home, or they will sacrifice their salary in order to work less. With a smaller salary, they will not be able to afford day care services, so that is not an option.

Stay-at-home parents will also become frustrated if they have to constantly serve their children. The constant calls of "But what should I do NOW? Read to me! Play with me! Take me to the park! Let's go for a walk! But I don't wanna do that!" may be too much for some parents to bear.

Older children may be able to help at home, with washing dishes, scrubbing the bathroom or mopping the floors, but they are likely to rebel against those chores unless the parents are creative enough in their direction.

School, on the other hand, supervises children for more of the day.

There are other issues, as well

This proposal is not perfect. It is necessary to relate to the following issues:

• How should we handle the bright child who is disruptive in class?
• How should we handle the child who is less bright but who wants to learn?
• How do we deal with working parents no longer have a framework for their children during working hours?
• How are we to handle the specific issues involved in sending children out to the big world when they are young?
• How do we deal with the existing labor laws?
• Should all children receive a minimum amount of schooling?
  • Should it be up to a certain age?
  • Should it be until they learn a certain amount?
  • Should a rambunctious 5-year-old kindergartener be sent to work in factories?
  • Will normal and healthy children who leave school before age 18 take away jobs from the mentally and physically disabled, who can do only this type of work?

Yes, there are still questions. Does that mean that we have to remain with an existing, sorrowfully imperfect situation?