There are definitely tons of ways to satisfy this issue that we seem to be predisposed against because it would introduce slack in the system, and at multiple l

There are definitely tons of ways to satisfy this issue that we seem to be predisposed against because it would introduce slack in the system, and at multiple layers, the school system is designed to be a "precision engineered watch" - the staff never has time, the parents never have time, the kids never have time, and the measures of success are built around bureaucratic elements and adversarial dynamics. Thus every homework assignment I had came with a pit of anxiety about formal structure: "Am I following the exact format? Or will it come back with a zero because I didn't correctly read the teacher's mind about what's being asked for?" That kind of thing is resolved if there's slack, but in many schools it isn't there: it's just pushed downwards until it hits the students and they get marked late, absent, failing on their work, and blamed for being irresponsible. I once had a band teacher in high school that wanted us to do an "optional" practice session after school. I did not show up, and the next day she gave me an earful in front of the class because by optional, she meant you had to attend unless you were excused. I explained that that is not the definition of optional, and she should find a different word for it, but she was uninterested in using correct nomenclature.