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by the_local_host 1837 days ago
School, and the socialization that occurs there, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Work is generally just work, it's not like your personal development suffers if you skip it.
2 comments

In a household with two teenagers one couldn’t go back to school while the other one flat out refused to.

So, 50% of the kids don’t want the socialization.

My kid also sometimes doesn't want to brush his teeth or eat his broccoli.

Part of childhood is doing things that adults insist is good for you even if you don't want to.

Some people have a gene that makes broccoli much more bitter than it is to other people. Some people find 8 hours in the office harder to take than others. I agree with your point that sometimes we have to teach children to do things that are not fun in the short term for long term gain but not everyone has the same requirements.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4235829/

There are plenty of people who have found remote work much more productive and others who are really wishing they could be back in the office. I hope that employers take the pandemic as an opportunity to learn about different working styles and create more flexible working arrangements that can accommodate all types of people.

I totally agree. I'm someone who struggled at first but has since found it really good, and I think would ultimately choose the very sort of 2/3 scheme being discussed by these large companies— in office for meetings and team bonding, home for focus and flexibility.

But my parent comment was specifically with respect to the business about part of school being the socialization stuff, and if it's relevant whether or not your kids "want" that.

The reason you used to think Brussels sprouts were bitter and then “got over it” is they actually were bitter and since then they’ve been improved to taste better.
The famous NPR story on this: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/10/30/773457637/fr...

Though part of it is definitely also that our parents all boiled them, and bitter or otherwise, they're just plain better when broiled or pan-fried.

Adults are also less sensitive to bitter flavors.
They also don’t want to clean their room.
If it’s their room why would they be forced to maintain it to another person’s preferences?

My comment was about this mythical socializing that kids presumably needs so much.

Not all of them do.

School as an institution exists to free up housewives to participate in the workforce and maximize employers’ profit while preparing cheap workforce by giving a minimal education to the kids. Any benefits for the children are secondary - let’s not buy in too much into the PR.

you seem to be overestimating school both in general and its social aspect.