Education is important and having a system of formal education supposedly makes it more efficient, but whether it is actually effective depends on who is asking. If we really think about it, high school has a very complex dynamic. It affects a teenager's physical, mental, as well as emotional and social disposition. It favors only those for whom the system was structured, that is, if you stick to the rules of high school both written and unspoken, you'll survive. If you have the nous to navigate your way through it and work your way in the system, then you might end up on top. Basically, high school is a social construct that essentially forces people to box themselves in certain categories, otherwise they would be the outcast, at the bottom of the food chain or the caste system. So we go back to the initial question, is high school actually effective in helping students' overall development? Well, for one, having a public system of education does benefit those who have no means to access information and knowledge. But beyond that, if we study the whole landscape of high school, would we be able to say that high school is helpful or not? Bernie Bleske tackles this subject on Medium.
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