I personally think that some kids need to get out of school and get an education that doesn't revolve around 'book-learnin''. Part of the reason there are so many disruptive, trouble-making kids in schools is because the government is forcing them to stay - if they were able to leave school at 15 and get a job or an apprenticeship, they'd be a lot happier and so would their classmates, who would probably find their studies easier if their teacher's time and attention was focused solely on aiding them learn instead of attempting to discipline the kids who just don't want to be there.

In my experience, some kids are just not geared towards sitting in a classroom reading textbooks. And forcing them to stay at school is unreasonable because if they don't want to be there, they're certainly not going to actually learn anything - they're going to be frustrated, bored, and teenagers have that marvellous knack of taking out their frustrations on the wrong people (in this case, fellow students and teachers who have no control over the minimum age of school leavers).

I think there's too much pressure on teenagers to get educated, really. Not all people are suited to a university education and the types of jobs that come with that. Give the poor kids a break - at the end of the day, that's what we're dealing with, and the late teens are well-known for being fraught with angst about so many things... the intense pressure to choose a career path and then follow it doggedly RIGHT NOW can really break a kid (hell, I should know, having had a nervous breakdown in year 12). I think if kids want to quit school at 15 or 16, there's probably a good reason for it. And even if they're not leaving school to take up further study (TAFE etc) or do paid work, so what? The majority of kids that age live with their parents anyway, it's not like they're *that* expensive when it comes to things like Youth Allowance, so why not let them just bum around for a couple of years and get their heads straight, figure out where they want to go with their lives? High school isn't the be-all and end-all of education - there's TAFE, STEPS (or equivalent course to get entry to university), and the real world out there waiting for anybody who decides they do need to further their skills in order to achieve their dreams... and they're SIXTEEN, they have their whole lives ahead of them! Plenty of time to take stock and change directions if they think they're heading the wrong way.