I've been thinking about a few other things. Some families have their children in organized activities that will take them places. Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brother/Big Sister, Hebrew school, Religious Education and high-level organized sports, Forensics (the speech-giving, not the crime-investigating). All of these can provide similar experiences. Maybe we don't need to put (any of) the burden of character-building/community-building on the schools.