Our daughter Rebekah, who is in second grade, takes three after-school classes every week. On Monday there is violin; on Wednesday, Hebrew; and on Thursday, ballet. One of these classes connects her to a religious tradition going back three thousand years. Two of them are pretty well pointless.

— Mark Oppenheimer

Go ahead … read the article called Stop Forcing Your Kids to Learn a Musical Instrument. Then you decide ….

As a quick note: I sometimes find a parent has forced a child to study oboe and, after a number of lessons, can tell that the student just hates it. But more frequently they end up liking it and stick with it even if it was initially their parents’ idea.

But pointless??!! Sigh and double sigh.