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Unless things have changed drastically since I was a kid- the wealthy kids got as much "time off" as the poor kids- but they were often exposed to things that enriched their environment and "stretched" their mind, such as vacations that exposed them to different cultures and so on.

The poor kids often cannot do those mind-stretching things, and often just "hang around" their neighborhood and watch TV. The rich also could afford to do a lot more with their kids- poor people sometimes cannot even take a vacation (wonder why they have so many more health problems?), much less go to someplace good for their children.

One thing that concerns me is the recent drive to go-go-go without stopping ... and it's been shown that you HAVE to take breaks, otherwise your ability to retain what you're studying is significantly decreased. A kid who crams all night for an exam and doesn't rest isn't going to do nearly as good as he or she should- while the kid who DOES get a good night's rest will do better. If you don't take time off, you can burn out... and that is something that graduate students learn about and have to work hard to prevent! Ditto for professors and professionals. I think that would carry on to young people. People NEED a break!

Now, I can say this- the Dominionists/Fundamentalists/Pentecostals ARE control freaks, and will try to get you involved in things that separate you from your intelligence, or try to push you into what they think is correct. Put it this way- a couple of Pentecostal kids I've talked with at my school have admitted that their preachers dictate their curriculum to them- and pressure them into going into areas that don't expose them to other cultures or evolution (such as business school or engineering). If you show an independent streak of any sort (such as thinking for yourself), they will do everything to crush that. In my case, they pressured me into dropping out of school and "getting a real job". They kept me in junk jobs- picking fruit, working in convenience stores (night shift), etc. and actually blocked me from getting decent jobs- in order to make me more submissive. I returned to school nearly 30 years later- in the right field- and I'm about finished with my MA and planning on getting a PhD- with a 3.85 GPA and independent research already to my credit.

Oh, and one more point- most poor families do not invest in books or anything like that- their primary form of entertainment is TV or computer games. Rich parents can more easily afford to buy books and educational things for their children. TV and Computer games aren't exactly known for increasing one's intelligence.