Is it really that mystifying? Prior to modern medicine, child mortality rates were so high that every child was a mitzvah.<p>Now children are so plentiful most adults go to great lengths to prevent having them…going so far as to terminate accidental pregnancies.<p>And childhood is no longer primarily playing and helping around the house, with plenty of alone time for mischief. Now they are dragged from bed early, shoved on a bus, and kept in a sterile prison for much of the day.<p>No room is given to push boundaries with peers; mild scuffles can end in handcuffs and juvenile hall.