@montyoblivion That is horrid. And yes, some schools — many schools — are hellholes. Conformance factories. Torture chambers.
No rosy colored glasses here.
My point — and it may be a hard one to hear, but it is true — is that different schools are very, very, very different from each other. Some of them are so cushy, or so truly nurturing, it’s impossible for those who only know that kind to imagine what you describe could be real.