By my observation of the vast majority of people at school I would say... most people would just procrastinate and get nowhere if you just leave them to find something to work towards.

School sucks; but I think it is a bit of a dirty hack to keep kids minds on something for a few years. It needs a major revamp and broadening of the curriculum (so that those who do want to think independently can do their own thing).

But otherwise we risk a next-generation of total dropouts with no education and no life skills (it's bad enough anyway).

Yep; that's what society has come to. The fix is going to take more than just a few years.