'The problem is that as we grew older our fear made us learn to suppress our awareness of our feeling of boredom, which was telling us an important truth about how we were spending our time.' I'm sorry but that statement is just rubbish - and quite a lot of what preceded it. I think very few school students these days are fearful. The may be resentful of the requirement to comply with rules and behaviours that are imposed for the benefit of the smooth operation of the school and are not to their personal benefit, they may be bored, but I'd put money on bored students being perfectly aware of their boredom.

Some students enjoy their school education, others hate it. There is certainly room for improvement, as in the issue of posture and sitting referred to in the article. Introducing 'standing' classrooms is one solution. Even in my school many years ago our science labs were designed around standing not sitting. The utopian ideal of the community taking over responsibility for education is not only unrealistic, it would further disadvantage the children living in low socio-economic areas. School hours can be the best and safest part of the day for vulnerable children.

Ah, Robert, you have reminded me of the unmitigated horror that school was, the waste of my time, the prison that teachers made of my mind.

The best time of each week was when a teacher read a story, a rare occurrence. The rest of the time I was like a bird in a cage who looked out the window and wished I could fly.

At a time of my life when my mind wanted to know everything about the world I lived in I was forced to learn the names of all the rivers up and down the coast of NSW and what two times two equaled and why the British Empire was so important.

Later, when I attended University, I chose subject which interested me: sociology, philosophy, psychology, literature, economics, etc. I loved that period of my life, the thrill of learning things in which I was interested.

I regret the wastage of my youth, the partial destruction of my mind by teachers who themselves were programmed and robotic, victims of an authoritarian, regimented system.

Fortunately, I escaped the programming and have had a fairly interesting life. I think for myself when so many others simply regurgitate what they have been taught!

Thank you Robert for this beautiful article.

I used to chew paper in classroom out of sheer boredom in my school days. I'm sure swallowing all that ink was not doing my health any good (an element you failed to mention). Also, you mentioned fear of teachers, but failed to mention bullying and the fear of fellow students.

School is meant to benefit governments, turning children into cannon fodder - be it actual cannons in some countries, or fodder to the economic machine in others, bringing slow death instead.

Dear Candide,

<<The utopian ideal of the community taking over responsibility for education is not only unrealistic, it would further disadvantage the children living in low socio-economic areas. School hours can be the best and safest part of the day for vulnerable children.>>

I believe that Robert has already addressed that issue ("Given a choice, I believe that no self-aware child would go to school for more than a day (unless it was doing so to escape a more dysfunctional environment at home)"). Children in low socio-economic areas are doomed either way, in and out of school. I understand your noble desire to make them safer, but that doesn't require to indoctrinate them as well (as well as all other children who are not as unfortunate).