I don't have the baseline to evaluate it, but I consider Gatto's claim that conventional schooling has caused people to have less initiative to be at least plausible-- this might be a more recent cultural problem rather than something from the ancestral environment.

I'm inclined to think that the idea (which I've heard from more than one source) that a fundamental purpose of education is to teach children to do things they don't want to do. While it's necessary for a good life to be able to override some impulses, I believe it's also crucial to teach children how to do things they do want to do, or at least not crush too much motivation.

Again heard from more than one source-- children are lose a lot of curiosity and enthusiasm by third grade.