Question: Why is the Kekule structure of benzene still seen to be useful even though it is deemed 'incorrect'?

Laura Finney answered on 23 Jun 2016:

The kekule structure is really useful. I use it all the time in organic chemistry since we use benzene rings and carbon bonds A LOT.
The great thing about the kekule model is that you can use it on paper to imagine how electrons will move when you do a reaction and make or break bonds. Although it is not strictly 100% correct it gives a good model for us. As humans there is a lot that we don’t know 100% but we use models in this way since they are pretty close to the truth or help you visualise it and understand a bit easier.

It would be a lot harder to draw clouds of electrons when we try to show how chemical reactions work on paper 🙂
A circle in the middle of a hexagon which is also what you are taught isn’t as helpful later on in chemistry when you get a bit further into education as it doesn’t explain certain things, like why a chlorine might attach to one carbon but not the other, but the kekule structure explains it better.