""So what are we doing the rest of the 12 years?" he asks. "We're teaching habits of obedience. We've extended childhood to an insane degree because it makes people more manageable."
Unsaid in this article is that High School is a product of the educational establishment designed as a jobs-creation program. If you can create a perceived need for a longer basic education, then you can, by definition, create a like need for more employees to staff it.
Until the early 20th Century, as this article correctly points out, "childhood" ended at around 13, with the conclusion of basic education. This basic education crammed into 7 years everything that a well-rounded adult should be expected to know, as well as the tools to equip him for meaningful, productive life. There have been several postings of "The Test" as it's called which graduating students were expected to pass. (If someone has the URL for it, please post) It is a test that few graduating seniors could pass today in the current "haah-skrewl" environment.
And the side effects, the "unintended consequences" of artificially prolonging childhood abound. Of course, actual Childhood ends at puberty, and Adolescence begins. Adolescence is what's being prolonged - it used to only last a year or two. But with earlier and earlier puberty, the youth of today is artificially forced into a 7 or 8 year "adolescence," a period in which their adult bodies and minds are still treated (by law) like "children."
And, yes, it does tend to pound those young skulls into mush, to make them more "manageable."
The High School Culture, by now though, is thoroughly ingrained - not just in the US but worldwide in one form or fashion - and it will not easily topple. Some of its other consequences are, however, amusing to contemplate. In Japan, for instance, the bulk of one's learning will still occur in "haah-skrewl," even among those going on to University. Haah-skrewl in Japan is TOUGH. University, on the other hand, is more a rite of passage - to many, a non-stop last-chance party before entering the lifetime servitude of the World Of The Salaryman. "Live it up now while you're here, because it all stops once you walk out that door," the idea remains.
One used to become an adult by necessity - now, childhood is artificially prolonged and the responsibilities of adulthood aren't taught until it's too late for them to be a part of one's basic nature. It's a sad state.
Michael