Does the price of having well-rounded kids had to include so much driving?

In an article I read a few weeks ago, a mom revealed that she decided to limit her children’s participation in activities in order to regain some of her sanity. She felt bad at first, but quickly realized that her sanity was more valuable to her husband and kids than was her ability to drive them to and from every activity in town.

This article brought up the question: is it really necessary for kids to be involved in so many after-school activities? Isn't it enough that a five year old is expected to sit calmly in a classroom for 8 hours a day? Do we really need to make him/her go to soccer, dance, art, Spanish; the list goes on and on… Do kids really enjoy being shuffled from one activity to the next day after day? Why do moms feel so compelled to make their child aware of every possibly activity for someone their age? And, is it really worth all of the craziness that inevitably ensues from it?