> I frequently saw fights, so I learned

So this part of your education was entirely self-guided? And you're worried if children don't see fights and just sort of 'figure out' how to deal with them on their own they won't develop properly?

> I was bullied [...] learned that the BS American value of "popularity" doesn't translate into successful futures.

So the institution valued popularity to the point of allowing you to be abused because you didn't possess it. Another self-guided lesson.

I can never understand why people defend schools. They're terrible environments for learning. We clearly need a school setting for book learning and an _entirely separate_ one for social learning. This seems easily surmountable.