text: Learning doesnt just relate to textbooks or tests, it also encompass social learning. Interacting with others is crucial in a wealth of jobs, and what better place to teach it than schools? EQ, or emotional intelligence, is the type of intelligence that assesses how well an individual performs in a social environment. To develop this, individuals need physical interaction in order to understand body language and speech patterns of others. Recently, jobs have been considering this over IQ, so an ideal student dedicated to online learning is heavily disadvantaged in that department. This new system can narrow the job opportunities available for students, and it's outside of their control! The loss of a social environment can also stunt an individual's development. Erick Erickson, a social psychologist, argues that teenage development is characterized by integrating roles to establish an identity, and that the lack of which can have a catastrophic ripple effect later on in life. Public schools prevent this by offering a diversity of people which students can converse with. This is often overlooked as a privilege offered by traditional schooling, but it's especially important during middle and high school where individuals are confused about who they are. Teenagers receive a sense of reassurance when they feel socially accepted, and who knows the inadvertent psychological consequences of the lack of this later on in life.