London, England - Middle class parents are damaging their children by pressurising them to achieve and forcing them to take up extra-curricular activities, the Archbishop of Canterbury says today.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Rowan Williams says children who are rushed between ballet, violin and swimming classes are being suffocated by their parents' desire for them to excel, in the same way as children who join gangs are being smothered by peer pressure.
He calls on parents who both work, to put their children ahead of their careers.
Modern society, with its emphasis on exam results, material success and constant entertainment, is stunting the emotional development of young people, he adds.
The archbishop makes clear that the Church of England intends to take a far more high profile stand on moral issues than it has in recent years.
As part of this drive he:
• Calls for abortion laws to be tightened and for Gordon Brown to impose tough constraints on medical experiments on human embryos.
• Attacks the cult of celebrity and accuses broadcasters including the BBC and Channel 4 of encouraging a culture of "shamelessness" with shows such as Big Brother.
• Insists that the Prince of Wales should be the "defender of the faith" not the "defender of faith" when he becomes King, and that his coronation should be a Christian, not a multi-faith ceremony.
• Praises Mr Brown's decision to abandon Tony Blair's plan for super-casinos and to review the 24-hour drinking laws.
• Admits he does not know whether he can prevent a split in the Anglican church over homosexuality.
But the archbishop's most outspoken comments centre on children's upbringing, an issue highlighted in The Daily Telegraph this week after more than 250 experts claimed in a letter to this newspaper that a generation of youngsters was being "contaminated" by addictive computer games, over-testing, increased traffic and a fear of strangers that meant they hardly ever played outside.
He warns working mothers, and their employers, to remember that children should come before careers.
"Two working parents can be fine if they know how to structure the time the children need. It's not so much the fact of working, it's the all consuming nature of a lot of work expectations," he says.