Stephen Krashen attacked the Washington Post columnist and unnamed school officials of Fairfax County, VA, for questioning the value of an 18 minute daily break (my school has something like that, too). The columnist, Jay Matthews (I couldn’t locate the column), comments that the students don’t seem to be using that time for study.
Wasn’t that the idea? It’s a break? And here’s my eternal question: When do we get to call people stupid?
Before trouncing me for my failure to consult the actual words of Matthews and the school officials, let me get to my point: there are people in every school who get angry just watching teenagers horse around; they are happy only when the kids are bent over a book or furiously writing. Rest is not right, it upsets the order of their little universe; idle hands are the devil’s workshop.
Why are they stupid? Because when anyone has looked at the issue of work, they have found that periodic rest is essential. So another question? Why do certain people ignore this? The answer lies in religion, as do so many answers. Their religion teaches them to fear above all sin. Work is the antidote to sin.