[Grustaf]

No, having responsibilities like school does not turn people into slackers, the social conditioning from school etc is what makes us able to slog through hours of boring work because we know there it will lead to something good. This is one of the main reasons we have schools, to teach people discipline.

[ViktorV]

I think you misunderstand me. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have any responsibilities, but I'm saying that there should be a balance. In my country an average 16 year old's schedule only consists of "responsibilities" ( I would say that a responsibility can only be something that you choose, and not force into, so involuntary schooling can't be one, but anyway... ), and has almost 0 own time. I think the balance would be better at 50-50: 6 hours of school ( with homework + commuting )...

What I mean is not that school makes slackers, but school makes people believe that they are slackers, because they never had the chance to experience that they can perform without external pressure. Some people do need pressure to do things, but many people don't. I don't. I mean even if I feel pressure, that's coming from within, and not because my parents/peers would disapprove if I get a C.

But I generally agree with you, school makes people accept that they can't change their life, they need to be slaves/pressured into working ( otherwise they would slack off ).

Also, I would not say that accepting what is forced upon you is discipline. The most disciplined people I know discipline themselves without being force, and that's not something that you can learn in school.

[Grustaf]

It helps your discipline to do things you don’t like, even if in some sense you are forced to. You are not strictly forced to do them of course because there is no law against slacking off in school, you just need to attend. And high school generally is not compulsory.

I don’t know where you are from, Korea perhaps? But when I was 16 I had oceans of time for mischief, parties and endless amounts of skateboarding and just slacking.

I’m not saying that people can’t change their lives, or that they have to be slaves. I am saying that school teaches people to sit down and concentrate and do something that’s maybe not very interesting and probably a bit difficult but has a reward waiting down the line in the form of good grades and graduation. Deferred gratification is the most important life skill of all.

And people can definitely change their lives, in most countries there is no outside force stopping you from doing almost anything, starting a company, begging, travelling or whatever. But most people are neither very interested nor capable of doing anything out of the ordinary. Most people just want to swim with the current. And that’s a very good thing because we couldn’t have society and civilisation if everyone was an iconoclast.