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I personally have never found the "socialization" argument persuasive. Public school is, in fact, a highly artificial and non-representative environment. You ha

I personally have never found the "socialization" argument persuasive. Public school is, in fact, a highly artificial and non-representative environment. You have a group of kids, all within 12 months of the same age, and an authority figure to boss them around. As far as I know, that kind of "society" is not replicated anywhere, with the possible exception of military boot camp. Real societies have a mixture of people from infancy to old age. Real workplaces have a mixture of people from entry level to retirement age. Even prison has a mixture of ages! The model of education used in most of the United States was designed in the 19th century with the purpose of cranking out factory workers who would remain on-task until a bell rang -- so even its original purpose is largely obsolete.

actfrench 4y ago
Exactly this. Better have custom socialization, custom academics and custom childcare
giaour 4y ago
A military boot camp is also an educational institution, so the similarity to a school is hardly accidental.
tomtheelder 4y ago
I broadly agree that it's a bit of an odd environment, and definitely not one that is optimized for socialization, but there are two reasons I feel that it "works." Firstly I think that simple exposure is very important. Going to school tends to just force you to interact with a lot of different people. That could probably be replicated in other environments, just with more difficulty. Second, I think that one of the most important facets of socialization is shared experience. Even if traditional schooling isn't an ideal setting for socialization, it is still what most experience. I think removing a child from that sets them up for a significantly more challenging time when it comes to relating to others. So yeah I think I agree that school isn't really ideal for socialization, but I'm not sure there is a better option out there at the moment.

actfrench 4y ago

Exactly this. Better have custom socialization, custom academics and custom childcare

giaour 4y ago

A military boot camp is also an educational institution, so the similarity to a school is hardly accidental.

tomtheelder 4y ago

I broadly agree that it's a bit of an odd environment, and definitely not one that is optimized for socialization, but there are two reasons I feel that it "works." Firstly I think that simple exposure is very important. Going to school tends to just force you to interact with a lot of different people. That could probably be replicated in other environments, just with more difficulty. Second, I think that one of the most important facets of socialization is shared experience. Even if traditional schooling isn't an ideal setting for socialization, it is still what most experience. I think removing a child from that sets them up for a significantly more challenging time when it comes to relating to others. So yeah I think I agree that school isn't really ideal for socialization, but I'm not sure there is a better option out there at the moment.