What social conformity is forced by schools these days ? Only one I can really remember was we had specific uniforms for PE (basically just gym shorts and a tshirt)

not the school administration, other students.

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

Everyone will eventually be exposed to some form of forced social conformity. You cannot shield your children from it forever. It is better that they experience it now and you do your job as the parent to teach them how to handle it appropriately.

“Humans are weird in a way that 'public school culture' tries to paper over.”

I went to a public school as did the vast majority of the world’s population today. Genuinely curious… Are you saddened by what you view as a lack of diversity and creativity in the world and do you blame that on public schools?

Schools have athletic kids and within that, groups interested in different sports. And within each sport, subgroups of kids who become close friends. All of that also applies to kids interested in musical instruments, art, computers, board games and on and on. Some kids are nice, some are assholes, and everything in between. You make it sound like public school systems output an army of clones. No. Your friend group changes over time as you meet others, as your interests/views change, and as other people change. You're constantly immersed amongst all the other groups and you learn to tolerate some, love some, and hate some. All of this learning is tremendously stifled if you’re talking about a kid learning to socialize in a group of 5 instead of 500.

Aside from individualism, there has to be conformity as well. That’s part of learning to socialize and function in the real world for later as an adult. Conforming is also just human nature stemming from wanting to be accepted in a group. We all naturally learned to balance conformity and individualism when we were thrown into the public school system. By home schooling, you’re saying no, I don’t have the confidence that my child can do it on their own, even if 99% of the world has done so.

Since you said you're genuinely curious - the answer to your first question is no. I'm grateful for what diversity and creativity does exist - and I recognize that even with public schools in the mix, it's more than what existed for most of human history. But public schools have certainly been a retarding force in the generally positive developments we've seen since my grandfathers' time.

Incidentally, they're only a little bit older than that, so we shouldn't pretend they're some deeply tested social technology.