My wife resents that her parents made her be this for the other kids in her class. This meant my wife had to do things like be the one to 'tame' the poorly beha

My wife resents that her parents made her be this for the other kids in her class. This meant my wife had to do things like be the one to 'tame' the poorly behaved boy. Or she had to be the one to do extra work because the teacher would group her with the worst student. This is actually not preparation for adulthood. As an adult, when someone acts like a jerk, you ignore them and shun them and may report them depending on how bad it is. As a child, you're forced to interact. As an adult, I choose my colleagues so that they're intelligent and pull their weight. A common complaint I hear from homeschooled kids is 'parentification', where their parents expect adult responsibility from small children. I fail to see how what you're asking for is any different. Children shouldn't be expected to do adult's jobs.