Kindergarten Boot Camp

From watching my kids go through school, I've been aware of the increase in high-stakes testing throughout the grades, starting in elementary school. I've always thought standardized testing to be a piss-poor way of assessing kids' abilities, but things have fallen to a new level (don't get me started on No Child Left Behind) with kindergartens and what is currently happening. In last week's Boston Gobe magazine, I was horrified to read about kindergarten kids being not only assessed for "kindergarten readiness" (what? You can hold a pencil upright without falling over?) but judged on their performance in "class." Recess now only occupies 30 minutes in many classrooms, says the Globe, and 2-3 hours are spent on instructing kids in reading, writing, and being tested in said areas. Wow, what the hell happened?
Here's my theory: having just finished a book set during the Salem Witch trials of 1692 ("The Father of Lies", 20011, HarperCollins), I am saturated with Puritan culture and all of its wonderful abilities to bring out the best in children. I think we've never left this behind, no matter that we have girls piercing their bellybuttons, and TV shows with gyrating participants. This need to probe the depths of our children--to assess whether they are "worthy" and "saved," a frequent occurence in 1692, has not left us. We just dress fancier and flashier, have more cash, but certainly don't drink more. (Little known fact about Salem: lots of drunkenness occured there, and I won't mention bestiality....) Why the hell can't we let kids just be....kids? And get on with the business of climbing ladders, sailing down slides, twirling on ropes, playing tag, and all of the other wonderful activities that let children develop into the great people they will be? Why must we continue to measure, assess, and weigh? Puritans. Still alive. In us. In our culture. Bite me, testing firms, destroyers of childhood!