This paper discusses how school education, as an environment, expands and narrows the individual differences between children and adolescents.
As an environment, school education can narrow the individual differences between children and adolescents. (1) The education of children in schools can be divided into three aspects, namely knowledge and skills, values and spiritual civilization. Few families can complete these three aspects of education independently. Therefore, if families are allowed to educate their children at will, the individual differences between children and adolescents in the above three aspects will be even greater. Now, the compulsory education system requires schools to generally implement the above three aspects of education for children and adolescents, so as to narrow the individual gap in these aspects. (2) The socio-economic status of children's families will be very different, and the education level of parents will also be very different. Although the education level of a few families will be higher than that of ordinary schools, the average level of family education is quite low from the perspective of the whole society. Through compulsory education, schools help most families who can't afford their children's education to educate their next generation, which improves the basic education level of the whole society and narrows individual differences. As an environment, school education will also expand the individual differences between children and adolescents. The school meets the needs of students with different interests with professional teachers and various equipment, which leads to the adjustment of individual difference distribution. For example, a child's genotype will be different from that of his parents, so it is possible that his parents have no talent for music and his children do. If there is no universal school education, it is impossible for the children in this family to develop their musical talents and learn to succeed because of the stimulation of music education. With a standardized school education, this student may stand out, and the school has widened the individual differences between him or her and other students with similar musical conditions. Schools can do this very systematically, from "interest classes" outside the regular courses, to off-campus talent counseling institutions at all levels in the campus, and even to professional institutions for preparatory training, so that children and adolescents with different talents and potentials can be more fully developed.