Yes, I knew those kids and there was very little that could have helped them other than more parental care and involvement in their academics. They wore it as

Yes, I knew those kids and there was very little that could have helped them other than more parental care and involvement in their academics. They wore it as a badge because it's the only badge they could wear. For those[1] you cut your losses but one should be careful to throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. [1] For these kids a "Gymnasium/Hauptschule" system might help them where kids who obviously don't have the aptitude to learn, can be productively diverted into vocational schools as, in practice, by fits and starts that's where they end up, if they avoid drifting into crime. Most I knew were able to avoid crime that landed you in jail, but some succumbed to it.