[dfischer]

In Los Angeles the schools feel like jails in disguise. I was home schooled and arrested for being outside when I was 15. The cops didn’t trust I was homeschooled and said it’s illegal to be outside of school.

The schools even look like prisons at this point.

[primroot]

Here is an anecdote of something that taught me, being a person at the time more unfamiliar with US culture, that perhaps in the US childhood is not seen in the same way as in my country and others (I mean just look at this map https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_the_Rights_of_th... ). 13 years ago I went to an interview at the embassy to apply for my student visa. I was asked at some point about what I did during the 2 months I had spent in the US the last time I went. I very naively proceeded to truthfully describe my activities during those two months, one of which consisted of going to a public school for a short time (maybe three weeks). That was enough to get my visa denied and my tourist visa canceled. It did not make any sense to me that something so innocuous, which I did when I was eleven years old under the command of adults and not from my own will, would need to have, 7 years later, such "consequences." The interviewer of course questioned my knowledge of that word, and demanded proof that I had paid something to the school. I communicated with the school principal and managed to get a receipt of a $14 payment for buying a t-shirt, and got my visa which I had to renew after a year.

[0max]

I mean it's not like the US Federal Government makes Children's Day (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Day) a holiday or anything. If you've done a project in Japan, you know you have to account for that day off.

[saagarjha]

One of the local high schools was designed by a prison architect, at least according to a quote from Steve Jobs…I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but the rooms would certainly fit in at one.

[salamimonger]

>and said it’s illegal to be outside of school.

They actually enforce it where you are? Never happened here for me(LA suburbs)

[dfischer]

Yes. What’s an LA suburb? Haha.

For reference it was Loz Feliz. But I had further seen issues anywhere from Ktown to Santa Monica.

[salamimonger]

I live in a neighborhood near/within the vicinity of Northridge, and this area I would describe as surburbs, while technically being within LA. It's nothing like downtown LA or other major cities. Not really sure, but it's not a place where they could ever enforce something like that. It doesn't seem like it would be a very productive use of police time.

[dfischer]

Northridge used to be prime gang territory 20 years ago. It’s changed for sure recently.