In the US, typically: - you are assigned a school and changing schools varies from moderately difficult to impossible - kids under 16 cannot get to any high s

In the US, typically: - you are assigned a school and changing schools varies from moderately difficult to impossible - kids under 16 cannot get to any high school other than their assigned one because they can’t drive (and at 16 they’d need a car, which not everyone can afford) - everyone HAS to be in school all day. It’s day care so parents can work. What you described in Slovenia sounds much better. It sounds like college in the US: people are there because they want to be there. High School in the US is just… a mess. There are people who think the point is to perform in the school band, or on the sports team, or in cheerleading etc. There are people who think the point is to hang out and have friends. There are people who think there is no point. And there are a few who think the point is to learn. Schools very a lot and in a place this big you can find all kinds of schools, but from everyone I’ve known the typical experience is academically a waste of time, and people’s feelings about High School are almost entirely determined by how many friends they had and thus how much fun they thought it was.