[hnpolicestate]

"My wife and I had a disagreement about letting my son (now 23) have my old desktop replacement laptop."

But at least that's your son. We shouldn't outsource these difficult decisions to strangers, school, municipal, federal systems etc.

I wouldn't consider my organization dangerously authoritarian. But definitely authoritarian. I doubt any preferable locations exist in education. They all support this digital authoritarianism. Lastly, I don't have the economic means to just quit.

I can vent on HN though lol.

[PaulHoule]

Well I graduated from elementary school the same way Ender Wiggin did so I tend to think that elementary school students are like the kids in Lord of the Flies and could use some authority.

If the people who have authority aren't willing to use it they will create people who 15-65 years later will be craving for authority because they won't have internalized it. (e.g. that lack of internalization is infectious but can have different consequences) See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomie.

But seriously, your pension is a trap. If stress in your job raises your blood pressure enough you won't live to collect it. It's not just a matter of what your pocketbook can afford but what your body can afford.