The school establishment definitely has it's negative values. As @kurapikasuki has stated in her post (I'm very sorry for what you had to go through), the school system is broken. And it needs to be fixed, or rather, let's all be homeschooled.
But seriously, there are tons of problems with school in general. There was a time for my senior final that I was to "Write a one sentence summary of what the Constitution is." At first I was like, "Well this ain't too bad." However, I had misheard the assignment (or misread it. I've no idea which) and thought that I was to write a one summary of the Constitution itself! So, what do I do? I make a three page summary of the full Constitution, grammatically correct as a single sentence. And I got everything the document stated, with some paraphrasing, but I got it done. (I used a ton of semicolons) But once I turned it in, I got a zero. I wondered what was wrong to the teacher, and he said "While what you did was impressive, it's not what the assignment was. So you get a zero, but you can have some imaginary points on the board for everyone to see!"
Looking back, I can laugh at the imaginary points, but at the moment, those points that the assignment took away affected my grade. Just because I got the assignment wrong, doesn't mean that my effort should mean nothing. I put a ton of time and effort to get it done, but it was all in vain.
But it wasn't just the teachers, it was also the students. In my school, there was a strict PDA/drug policy. If you were caught doing either of these on school campus property, (outside of such it really didn't matter) it was grounds for immediate expulsion, and we all knew it. But people still did it. In fact, there was a corner in the school corridor that was hidden out of view for most people, so couples would do their business there. (I didn't know it personally, mostly because I didn't care)
There were even a few in my class that were caught with both drugs and doing the nasty on school grounds, and were expelled. However, because they were school sports superstars, they were allowed back in after a while. EXPULSION? Nah, they're our team captains. They made a mistake and they say they're VERY sorry about what they did. Also, while the boys got back into school in no time, the girl who was a part of it STAYED expelled because she wasn't a part of the sports teams, but decided to still do the work and assignments over the internet just so that she can still graduate properly, which to me is deserving respect than being let back in because of sports.
There was also a strange mentality of popularity in the school as well. First of all, popularity is a poison in school in general, and it creates automatic conflict and drama between peers. Somehow, because I was involved in soccer, the band, and had a different mind for things, a lot of the "popular crowd" wanted me to join their exploits, like sitting at their table, joining them for after-school shindigs, and plenty of other exploits that I didn't want any part of.
As to why I didn't just fall into this group is because once, just to be nice, I joined them for lunch. Good God they're boring. Have you ever heard a conversation where nothing is said, and yet so much is said to describe said nothing? I liked to discuss philosophy, worldviews, concepts, and ideas; all they went on about was which sport team won or which football player was being traded. It was maddening! (thank the Lord I got out of there and found my real friends, whom I still associate with now)
Popularity has no substance outside of itself or of school. Now that I'm out of school I bump into my old classmates from time to time, and they really don't have a lot going on outside of their job now. I on the other hand have lots going on, but I like to be quiet and listen, so the conversations are still quite... boring. Just goes to show how the outcast crowd often finds a more interesting way to live.
School is a system that needs to die. Or at least the American School system. It needs to die and become a new form, a more beneficial form. Where we can learn how to get an interview for work or get a mortgage, or sign a bloody check.
