We treat children like that. Largely for the economic value they can provide by making them spend most of their awake life at school. If school wasn't needed, it would look barbaric.
I'm always baffled by the way US (and on a lesser degree UK) people see schools. My (EU/Italian) point of view is that's something that could be improved (like anything) but not the evil I see through your words. There must be some significant difference in the school experience that I don't understand (for lack of knowledge, probably).
Conservatives here actually make things worse in public life as a policy decision...public schools are a perfect example...then run for election based on things being bad in public life.
Since public education became a thing for all the states, conservative Christians have been opposed to it. They will moderate their message depending on the audience, but when discussed among themselves they talk about abolishing it. The really ridiculous thing is how schools are funded. I won't go into it here, but it guarantees that poor people will have a bad education.
Yes, of course. It's visible in many subtle ways. One example is uniforms. Another is how "social studies" now stands where "history" once stood. Nearly 20% of high school graduates are illiterate. A highs school diploma signals something, but it's not being educated.
Some amount of education does occur, but it's incidental to social indoctrination, keeping parents' wages high by forcing kids out of the job market, etc.
A universal property of state run schooling is that schools are literal prisons for children and for many people is the only place they'll experience violence first hand. The finer details will vary by location.
I've been to multiple prisons for children to visit people, they aren't like schools. Also, many children are sent to adult prison and those aren't like school either.
Both public and private schools can be places where people experience violence, but many more people experience violence at home first.
Students are not free to leave and will literally be thrown in a cage for truancy if they do. They don't choose the curriculum, don't get to choose who they work with, and are frequently submitted to dehumanizing treatment like having to ask permission to use the restroom.
Very few countries jail children for simple truancy. Most will let you opt out of the system if you can prove you're maintaining standards in the process and not homeschooling for abusive purposes.
