Everythings depends on a certain child's age.
If a child is just 10-15 years old, where does he/she know what would be better for him/her? It's is only child and he/she knows almost nothing about good education.
In the case shown in the text, parents, obviously, knew where they sent their child and what kind of school that was.
Of course, children like to spend time with their friends, doesn't matter what kind of place it should be, school, college or something else. But children should listen to their parents, because they know what they do.