Why do we have schools?
To survive, every generation found it necessary to pass on its knowledge, skills, values, and traditions to the next generation. People soon figured out that it would be easier and more efficient to have a small group of adults teach a larger group of children.
Both in the United States and in Canada, enforced education began as a way to handle the crime rate in the streets caused by young persons. Then the government recognised that educated citizens would be far more valuable than uneducated ones, and that's when it became obligatory to attend school.