:wa:
I attented a public high school, and I think it's just fine. I had a great time AlhamdulillAh and never experienced any trouble. I had friends from many different cultures, yet I grew extremely close with my muslim friends, and we still keep in touch.
We were a great source of positive influence, AlhamdulillAh,although I cannot say that everyone who attends public high school has those types of friends.
Friends are honestly, at that age, the ones who influence you the
most. Nowadays, good friends (for high school kids) are IMO hard to find, and many as going astray ,sadly...
Although, there are still 'bad' influences and bad things going on in Islamic schools, so don't fool yourself.
But Islamic schools have a great advantage over public schools, that is that Islam is always present and they teach you the deen (right? I never went there, I only heard of this and my sister thought at an Islamic school) , and you never have to worry about missing a prayer.
Also, the segregation at that age is
cruuuuuuuuuuucial, although this might push some kids to rebel...so I am not quite sure where I stand on this...
In real life you will have to interact with males/females, so when attending public schools, you learn how to properly behave around their presence, and how to keep a confident yet respectable front when interacting with them...and your not as intimidated as you would normally be.
Anyway, that's my opinion. All in all, I'd send my future kids to an Islamic school, Insh'Allah!