@catweazle1961, I'm sorry but you have no idea.
If I'd have been forced to make do with only regular schooling I'd have quit in the second year of comprehensive school having been drained of almost all my enthusiasm for learning by the first year which was very obviously set to continue.
It was actually a series of distance learning things which allowed me to reignite the passion to learn inside me and saw me basically binge on everything of interest that I could get my hands on, something which started me on the road to having the haul of qualifications that I have.
And school actually hampered me socially because I left my peers well behind in academic and maturity levels, which saw us have less and less in common and because I was shackled inside the education machine opportunities to mix with people of a similar academic and maturity level, people who had similar experiences and similar interests, were severely limited.
That's why, at school, I became increasingly unwilling to socialize with people but outside of school I was willing to squish my dominant introverted side and seek out interactions.
Adopting a one size fits all approach can and does harm kids. Seriously.
If things hadn't worked out how they did for me and I was trapped inside the one size fits all system with no distraction and no outlet I'd almost certainly have committed suicide before I was fifteen because of how miserable and desperate I'd have become.
Luckily, I had distractions and an escape route of sorts and once I'd racked up enough A levels to enter any course at any university the balance of power swung firmly in my favour and I could make the school dance to my tune instead of the other way around because they were desperate for my exams results and they knew that I could leave at any time and very few people would even raise an eyebrow in concern when my pockets were stuffed with qualifications.
Then school became fun because I was given time off for the library, I was given access to the local college and their resources, I was able to make agreements about attendance, all of which allowed me to expand and grow in numerous ways as my horizons broadened and brightened significantly.
That period between 15 and 18 was the best of my entire life, but like I said, if I hadn't been able to break the shackles the system placed on me I probably wouldn't have been alive to see my fifteenth birthday so badly did it affect me.
I repeat, a one size fits all approach is dangerous.
@ellieclarke1989 be thankful you never had to find out, lol
I was quite lucky in that I suffered badly with insomnia, which at that point wasn't particularly harmful to me because a lot of what sleep does, puberty also does, so I had time to do all the writing, way more than anyone else had, which did allow me the time to do other things, but having a phone and a keyboard...
I'd have been able to do so many more things, not just academically, but I could have used that extra free time to pursue other hobbies and interests, to learn more languages and interact sooner with people of other cultures or just experienced more of our culture.
We were a poor family so access to things like theatre were limited until I started earning money myself, and music, especially classical were way out of reach. I could have explored museums and art galleries which were too far and too expensive to get to in person, too all sorts of things like that.
So beneficial in so many ways.
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