You are so right. When kids are not pushed to be something beyond their sphere and to respect worldly authorities, and have ample idle time on their hands, trouble has a chance to follow.
My friends told me I was cruel (yep, direct quote) when I MADE both of mine start working at 14 (Dominoes, answering phones) because they were too young, or might be exposed to bad elements. Well, maybe, but I wanted them to learn very young the value of a dollar, the dignity of hard work, and how to put aside your own immediate needs for someone who doesn't really care about "you" and "your" needs, but the needs of the company.
You are right - kids need to feel useful and either infantalizing or worshiping teens does nothing to help them, only hurt.
Parents should be doing the pushing, **not** a government with a gun.
You are right - kids need to feel useful and either infantalizing or worshiping teens does nothing to help them, only hurt.
Feel? Feel?
Kids "feel" useful when they actually ARE DOING useful things. Simply attempting to create an environment where the child merely "feels" useful is an educational fairyland and the child **knows** this. High school for this child is a Potemkin village.
For a child who needs a college education for his career goals, then algebra and the other college prep courses mean the child really is **doing** something **useful** that will further his goals. Should the government **force** the other children to behave like hamsters on an educational exercise wheel? I don't think so.
Solution: Begin the process of privatizing universal K-12 education. Let parents, teachers, and principals quietly and privately decide these matters. Get government out of the education business.