I’m confused by your first point. Our schools tolerate all manner of violence, criminality and indiscipline from students. We have decided as a matter of law and public policy that every child deserves an education, so we continue to tolerate and provide for shitty little monsters who neither want nor deserve to participate. I would argue that our problems are the result of being excessively tolerant rather than intolerant.
But the second point here is a valid one. Whenever someone asks, “How did people do X in the past?” the answer is usually more like, “How did *rich *people do X…” or “How did people in the major cities do X…” The poor and the people in remote communities are usually under-represented in the historical records for obvious reasons.
I know wer means man - I was learned enough old English in college to know it was the original meaning. Doesn’t make it less disappointing that it’s that usage.