And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says, does or think anything that is unusual. Schools are maintained in order to bring this uniformity up to the highest possible point. A school is a hopper into which children are heaved while they are still young and tender; therein they are pressed into certain standard shapes and covered from head to heels with official rubber-stamps.
 

– H.L. Mencken, Prejudices: Sixth Series [1919-1927]