So, good training for exactly the same pressures they'll face as adults?

I’m not against public schools, but pretending the social pressures are anywhere near similar is wrong.

Kids are assholes in a way that would get most adults fired or imprisoned.

There are social pressures to conform, but you don’t get called names for wearing off brand shoes the way kids were when I was in grade school.

They are the same pressures. They occur in the same proportions.

Children are just really bad at it so it is extremely obvious. The rituals do not disappear when you turn 18. They do not disappear when you turn 98.

> They are the same pressures. They occur in the same proportions.

That's one hell of a claim to make:

Have you really had work environments where half your co-workers refused to talk to you? For months, if not years?

Have you ever been shoved down to the ground and punched repeatedly?

Have you ever had a co-worker chase you with a knife?

Have you ever had a co-worker set off a bomb to get out of work early?

Have you ever had a co-worker steal your wallet?

I can safely say I saw all of these going to public school, and have never encountered any of that behavior in the office.

Children are really good at this. Adults stop trying for various reasons.

If “the rituals” are so subtle that I don’t notice them then it’s not the same pressure then is it?

well today’s parents do just about everything except prepare their children for adulthood