[wintertime]

Privatizing education would put it all back into the hands of the parents. Then, if private companies wanted to recruit promising young students to work for them,

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

At 15, my son moved from the community college to a local college. In the first semester, the college held a job fair. A local bank offered my son ( then 15) a **serious** job offer for a management position. He refused, and jokingly told the recruiter, "My mom would have to drive me!"

At 15, he could have DONE that job, and performed well!

In the past youth of that age did take on responsibilities of great magnitude. I am reminded of the young teen officer in the movie staring Robert Crowe, "Master and Commander". The fictional young man in that movie was essentially being "homeschooled" by the captain, the captain's friend, and the other members of the crew.

[Tired of Taxes]

Wintertime,

You are so right. This morning, I was just thinking about this very topic: Our society has extended childhood into adulthood by virtue of extended school. As a result, everything in life has been pushed to a later age. Generally, we finish our education when we graduate college at age 22 or 23, and then we are just starting in our careers. So, we aren't financially stable until later, and we're marrying and starting families later. All because people go through school moving through each grade according only to specifically-designated age levels, thus they're held back.

[JamesP81]

In the past youth of that age did take on responsibilities of great magnitude. I am reminded of the young teen officer in the movie staring Robert Crowe, "Master and Commander". The fictional young man in that movie was essentially being "homeschooled" by the captain, the captain's friend, and the other members of the crew.

And lo and behold, he was an effective officer. David Farragut's story is actually similar in many ways. He went to sea as a young boy without a formal education and became the first Admiral in the US Navy, IIRC.

[Shion]

At 15, he could have DONE that job, and performed well!

I hired my best employee when she was 18 and not out of high school yet. She decided she wanted to be homeschooled when she got to high school to avoid the social distractions.

While she's a little immature sometimes, she learns faster and works smarter than practically anyone else at the business. I'm lucky to have her.