This is an insightful post

From an Econolog post about raising children

Laugh if you like, but I want to give me kids a better life than I had. I don't want them to be bullied or mocked by teachers or other kids. Since adult life is far more civilized than childhood, sheltering your kids is not "delaying the inevitable"; it's skipping pointless suffering.

That strikes a chord with me. People have been much nicer in adulthood than in school. Civilization begins with voluntary association I suppose. If I were feeling hyperbolic, I would say that the only thing forced association in the form of mandatory schooling prepares you for is prison, but that's not accurate. It's certainly not the only thing anyway.