Why is school compulsory?

Question

Why is school compulsory?

Answer 1

I don't believe it is, you can go to jail instead?

Answer 2

Used to not be. If you could walk behind a horse pulling a plow, that was sufficient.

But there came to be a problem. Homesteads were no longer self sufficient. Commerce began to grow. People had to learn to read and write and to "cipher."

Cities began to sprout up... and to grow. Life became more and more complex. Used to be that you had to know how to type. Now you have to know how to operate a computer. Used to be that all you had to know was how to add and subtract. Now, if you don't at least go through calculus, you're destined to, "Welcome to Burger Boss, How may I help you?"

To survive in today's complex society you need an education. Unfortunately, there are some who aren't astute enough to realize that. So, to keep those people from not attending school, and becoming a burden on welfare rolls, they force everybody to get a minimal education.

Recently another problem has arisen. Because educators are indoctrinated in education in much the same way the other pseudo-sciences are indoctrinated, they have changed from teaching students to think to training them to fill out standardized test sheets. Soon a high school education will be useless. In many college majors, students don't have to have to learn to research or to come up with independent thoughts until after their Masters degrees. And in the pseudo-sciences, objective and independent thought is forbidden until after you get your doctorate. But, never having had to research or to think independently, they are incapable of doing so.

Answer 3

I don't remember the specific historic reasons, but in principle, it's to ensure that everyone entering the workforce has the same basic skillset, keeping our economy competitive. Also, making it mandatory that children attend school help keeps them from being used as child laborers.