[pfedor]

Highschool is a mechanism to socialize you and a filter for colleges.

That's what they kept telling me. I don't believe it. I for one acquired little social skills in high school and orders of magnitude more since I started working.

I think people just can't bring themselves to admit that high school is a net loss. It is not easy to admit you've wasted many years of your life. At the same time, most intellectually honest people can't really say it with straight face any more that high school has anything to do with education. So they cling to secondary made up reasons like the one about social skills.

[kajecounterhack]

I've had the blessing of both at the same time. I've learned different things from school and work -- it all ends up shaping who you are. In a work environment, people are forced to cooperate with you. In a school environment, you are forced to cooperate with people and take initiative. Communication in a workplace is easier but you'll learn to be all-businessness. It's in school that you learn to make friendships and the art of small-talk.

I'm in 12th grade by the way, and 11th and 12th have been my biggest growth years in terms of interpersonal ability.