I wouldn't really agree that school is a prison, that just feels like an ignorant way of saying you don't want to go to school. I think the people who bring up this topic fail to realize that all of these things are fairly logical, or are preparing you for the workplace... while still being logical.

1. They both have an authoritarian structure: This is accurate, but so do jobs. Are you going to stop working because you can't sexually harass your clients or skip work to hang out with your buddies?

2. They both have strict dress codes: Again, so does work. You're expected to look a certain way and act a certain way because that's what you signed up to do.

3. They both have "Negative" reinforcement: This isn't bad. Negative reinforcement is simply a way of teaching something not to do a certain thing by implementing something it doesn't enjoy. Our parents have been doing it to us since we were born, that must make my house a prison, too.

4. "Walking in lines" honestly this one is pretty fucking stupid: Yeah, this one is dumb, no question there.

5. Abridged freedoms: Everything a school restricts is restricted by your own accord. Those papers you sign at the beginning of the year, every year, probably tell you about every restriction before you accept them.

6. No input for decision making: The people who made this argument are aware that there's a student council that helps the student body get their voice to the school board, right? It's not like they have a ton of say, but if there's an important decision that needs to be made and StuCo brings in a decent viewpoint, it can definitely make a difference.

7. Set times enforced for eating, walking, etc.: Uh... this is how large bodies work. If they got rid of schedules, everything would be chaotic and then you'd just complain about how nothing has any set time.

Yeah the people who thought those points were decent probably didn't put too much thought into them. I literally just read these and shot off what came to mind immediately after, but I will admit that when I was in high school I may have had thoughts similar to a few of these.