I'm not usually one to get involved in debates but I couldn't resist this one!
My mom used to put papers, pens, pencils, markers, etc. in front of my older brothers and me when we were all very young, and have us draw while she caught up on her own artwork. At first, I would draw huge heads on top of tiny bodies, and all sorts of inaccurate subjects. Luckily she had many books about drawing, 'How to Draw the Head and Hands' and other books of that nature and I began to trace the drawings from the books. My brothers tormented me for it! They even tattled on me, telling my mom I was never going to learn if I just traced. I traced and retraced heads, hands, cartoons, trees, animals, National Geographic pictures until I got them right.
By no means am I perfect at drawing today, and I am certain I never will be, but I sure did excel at it very quickly. I learned a great deal from tracing! The proportions of the face, shading, line quality, etc. By the time I was in 2nd or 3rd grade I stopped tracing and just started drawing what I could see, which was a whole new world after all that tracing and training of the eyes. My abilities had increased so much and so fast that I began creating designs for a silkscreen company at age 11. Which of course quieted the teasing of my brothers and made me very happy!
At 16 I had my first portrait commission for a couple's 50th wedding anniversary (talk about pressure! I cried the entire time!). But I really don't believe I would have been at that point so young if it weren't for the tracing. I still have a long way to go and a whole lot to learn, but I think what I learned from tracing gave me a strong foundation to build on.
Thanks for listening, I'll step off my soap box now.