I stopped reading this half-way through, not because I didn't agree with you, but just that a lot of this is what we have been saying forever.

Schools haven't changed much since the late 19th century. They've just become more colourful and the teachers, for the most part, are kinder.

Have a look at forest schools in Europe, or Australia (though they are still somewhat in their infancy here). There you will find problem solvers, tinkers, risk takers, confident students.

Have a look at this. https://medium.com/the-shadow/the-tinkering-school-where-power-tools-are-used-and-trust-is-implicit-54af08dcfe6

Read: Last child In the Woods,by Richard Louve.

Have a look at flavcity on Facebook.

Be a force for change. Be involved in the change.

For the life of me I cannot understand that children sitting on their backsides was ever considered a good thing.It's not good for anyone, yet we do it to children.

I wrote here on Medium, about a little girl who couldn't sit still. Turns out all she wanted to do was dance. She became a famous ballerina.

The other thing is, through the system that we are so critical of, we still produce elite students.

In my last school we had at least 7 doctors, two becoming surgeons, lots of lawyers, engineers, mathematicians...but we had a great leader. We were progressive.

I don't see our system as destructive, but it could be less standardized. We could offer freedom and trust that would allow students to shine.