India actually has labor unions where one of the criteria to be a member is being a child. When you get too old, say 18, your kicked out of the union. It's been something of a moral problem for certain liberal groups who naturally want to support a union but don't want to support child labor.

But ultimatly that is a bit of misleading point. Children are capable of learning complex tasks and dealing with a lot on their own if forced to. American children often seem hapless because they are carefully protected from learning how to cope with difficult situations until they reach college, and sometimes even after that.

Jay