Since when is reading the same book dictating what they think? You have some very strange ideas of how education works. You seem to be confusing education with religious indoctrination.
Sorry, what I meant was that formal education teaches us what to think
about.
Consider childen entering kindergarten. Their greatest curiousity, fascination, fear, and need for guidance is their place in the society of kids around them, not the curriculum. Their collective and individual needs are ignored and the law of the jungle obtains. Widespread bullying and it's often terrible consequences is one manifestation of this.
The first duty of the educational system is to protect the kids while in their care. Education should only proceed when all dangers, and distractions, have been controlled or eliminated.
Another failure of the system is the sense of shame and failure that teachers lay on students who either won't or can't live up to their unrealistic must-go-to-college expectations. They should be made to wear masks so kids that have no intention of going on won't have to be confronted with their looks of disappointment and disapproval.
The curriculum has little to do with the failure of the system. It's the ivory tower, liberal elite attitudes that pervade the system. Much of this problem stems from the young, inexperienced teachers that enter the field. They are often laden with debt, unsettled lifestyles, and way too liberal attitudes to be entrusted with our kids. There are also way too many women teachers. Kids need strong father figures who can guide their education with a firmer hand. In fact the whole system needs to be masculinized.