Counterpoint to your military argument - sometimes kids have nowhere else to go. I grew up in a poor, broken household full of trauma. No one in my family knew how to apply for college, nevertheless was going to help pay for any single part of it, nor did they give me any foundation to have a life that wasn't horrible.

So I joined the military straight out of high school. I did my contractual time and left, going straight to college with that sweet GI Bill and a bunch of life experience.

Sometimes these kids don't really have a choice. It's survival.