Boarding Schools

[Geneviev]

Boarding schools are schools where students can live. Because of that, they are generally very expensive. They are also usually much better than day schools in academics and have more sports and arts than public or private day schools. Boarding schools are also good for students whose parents move around a lot or are in another country for some time.

However, some people believe that boarding schools aren't as good as they seem. In this article, boarding schools are described as dangerous to mental health because they separate children from their families.

What do you think about boarding schools, NSG? Are they good or bad?

I think boarding schools are much better than day schools because of specialized arts programs that a lot of them have, and the fact that they allow a person whose parents are away for some time to have a more stable place to live.

[Shrive]

What do you think about boarding schools, NSG? Are they good or bad?

I think it depends on the context - a specialized military school, for example, would be far better as a boarding school. Boarding schools also give children who live further away an opportunity to learn at a different, specialized or advanced school, and as such they can be accepted based on grades and not where they live, which has socioeconomic subtexts and will basically universally favour the rich.

On the other hand, boarding schools are majority private, and private schools are a bourgeois institution that give the rich a massive advantage over the poor, and shouldn't exist at all. But private-public is a completely different debate and I'm not going to derail your thread.

Boarding school teachers can also get away with more, such as harassment and physical and sexual abuse, because they have more time away from principals and parents, and because kids can't just go home and tell their parents. This can be seen the massive systematic physical, psychological/emotional and sexual abuse of indigenous children in Canadian and American residential schools, which operated from the 1800s all the way up to the 1990s (in Canada's case, no clue about America).

I think better busing and transportation programs can offset the neighborhood issue, and it's too risky for the children to go to boarding schools due to the risk of abuse of power.

[The Two Jerseys]

Boarding schools are schools where students can live. Because of that, they are generally very expensive. They are also usually much better than day schools in academics and have more sports and arts than public or private day schools. Boarding schools are also good for students whose parents move around a lot or are in another country for some time.

However, some people believe that boarding schools aren't as good as they seem. In this article, boarding schools are described as dangerous to mental health because they separate children from their families.

What do you think about boarding schools, NSG? Are they good or bad?

What do you think?

[Geneviev]

What do you think about boarding schools, NSG? Are they good or bad?

I think it depends on the context - a specialized military school, for example, would be far better as a boarding school. Boarding schools also give children who live further away an opportunity to learn at a different, specialized or advanced school, and as such they can be accepted based on grades and not where they live, which has socioeconomic subtexts and will basically universally favour the rich.

On the other hand, boarding schools are majority private, and private schools are a bourgeois institution that give the rich a massive advantage over the poor, and shouldn't exist at all. But private-public is a completely different debate and I'm not going to derail your thread.

Boarding school teachers can also get away with more, such as harassment and physical and sexual abuse, because they have more time away from principals and parents, and because kids can't just go home and tell their parents. This can be seen the massive systematic physical, psychological/emotional and sexual abuse of indigenous children in Canadian and American residential schools, which operated from the 1800s all the way up to the 1990s (in Canada's case, no clue about America).

I think better busing and transportation programs can offset the neighborhood issue, and it's too risky for the children to go to boarding schools due to the risk of abuse of power.

That sort of abuse is much less common than it once was. Boarding schools, for the most part, have done everything they could to solve that problem. The advantage of better academics and arts would never exist as much in public schools or private day schools.

[Geneviev]

Boarding schools are schools where students can live. Because of that, they are generally very expensive. They are also usually much better than day schools in academics and have more sports and arts than public or private day schools. Boarding schools are also good for students whose parents move around a lot or are in another country for some time.

However, some people believe that boarding schools aren't as good as they seem. In this article, boarding schools are described as dangerous to mental health because they separate children from their families.

What do you think about boarding schools, NSG? Are they good or bad?

What do you think?

I just edited the OP to have that.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

I went to a school that was partly a boarding school. Those were some miserable children.

[The Two Jerseys]

What do you think?

I just edited the OP to have that.

Muy bueno!

As for my two cents, they make sense if there's circumstances where students are for some reason unable to live with their family while they attend school, but other than that people are just paying for exclusivity. Most boarding schools that I know of also have day students, so I don't see any real advantage that boarding schools have over day schools.

[The Free Joy State]

What do you think, OP? It's usually nice to hear your opinion. Ah, you've added your opinion.

As for myself, I don't think boarding schools are good for children. They're researching "Boarding School Syndrome", children separated from their primary caregiver, causing issues in adulthood, including with forming relationships. The effect has been said to be sometimes "cause psychological damage akin to being taken into care". This seems especially prevalent in early boarders. If an older teenager, perhaps studying their A-levels (16-18) wanted to go away, that might be different.

But a younger minor? No.

Yes, boarding schools -- and private day schools -- generally get better academic results overall. Any school that can take a selective intake would score higher than the average, so that's hardly unusual. They can also afford to lay on a large range of extracurriculars and development-enhancing trips that the average state school can only dream of. You offer development-enhancement to a child, they tend to... show enhanced development, so that's hardly surprising, either.

[LimaUniformNovemberAlpha]

Imagine if the money wealthy parents poured into boarding schools was instead poured into making public schools better.

It's almost as if when you cut and run from everyone else's problems, you make only a marginal dent in your own.

[The South Falls]

Imagine if the money wealthy parents poured into boarding schools was instead poured into making public schools better.

It's almost as if when you cut and run from everyone else's problems, you make only a marginal dent in your own.

Public schools? For plebes! Real men attend SUPER AMAZING PRIVATE SCHOOLS!

It's almost as if someone has to go to a public school.

[Page]

Depends on the type of student. For an introverted kid who relies on solitude for their mental well being, it could be a very unpleasant experience. Other students will be happier in such an environment.

Personally though, I'm not a fan. I think a student's school being omnipresent can be damaging to individuality.

[95X]

Imagine if the money wealthy parents poured into boarding schools was instead poured into making public schools better.

If I understand the 'mentality of the rich' correctly, those who put their children into private school, either boarding or day school, pay the same taxes as everyone else for the public schools in their area; they 'choose' to spend their money as they see fit.

Also, could we consider that juvenile halls and youth correctional facilities might also meet a loose definition of a boarding school? After all, they (have to) live there and as I understand have to take academic classes while they're there.

[Rio Cana]

I think it depends on the context - a specialized military school, for example, would be far better as a boarding school. Boarding schools also give children who live further away an opportunity to learn at a different, specialized or advanced school, and as such they can be accepted based on grades and not where they live, which has socioeconomic subtexts and will basically universally favour the rich.

On the other hand, boarding schools are majority private, and private schools are a bourgeois institution that give the rich a massive advantage over the poor, and shouldn't exist at all. But private-public is a completely different debate and I'm not going to derail your thread.

Boarding school teachers can also get away with more, such as harassment and physical and sexual abuse, because they have more time away from principals and parents, and because kids can't just go home and tell their parents. This can be seen the massive systematic physical, psychological/emotional and sexual abuse of indigenous children in Canadian and American residential schools, which operated from the 1800s all the way up to the 1990s (in Canada's case, no clue about America).

I think better busing and transportation programs can offset the neighborhood issue, and it's too risky for the children to go to boarding schools due to the risk of abuse of power.

That sort of abuse is much less common than it once was. Boarding schools, for the most part, have done everything they could to solve that problem. The advantage of better academics and arts would never exist as much in public schools or private day schools.

When it comes to the arts, we have a very good regional public music school. Students who are into music, singing, dancing and theater can attend this school in the afternoons. And being public its free. The building they are in was built a few years ago at a price of $120 million US dollars. A very short example of one of the programs at the school - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSZtYtbhczE and this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3bMchk0Vlc

[LimaUniformNovemberAlpha]

I think it depends on the context - a specialized military school, for example, would be far better as a boarding school. Boarding schools also give children who live further away an opportunity to learn at a different, specialized or advanced school, and as such they can be accepted based on grades and not where they live, which has socioeconomic subtexts and will basically universally favour the rich.

Society isn't necessarily helpless to do anything about that. The beauty of public schools is that they're answerable to the voters. This means voters can push to raise the standards for public schools as a whole.

Boarding school teachers can also get away with more, such as harassment and physical and sexual abuse, because they have more time away from principals and parents, and because kids can't just go home and tell their parents. This can be seen the massive systematic physical, psychological/emotional and sexual abuse of indigenous children in Canadian and American residential schools, which operated from the 1800s all the way up to the 1990s (in Canada's case, no clue about America).

Sounds like a more dire situation than the school being less specialized or advanced.

I think better busing and transportation programs can offset the neighborhood issue

I suppose. But better still would be to improve schools as a whole regardless of neighbourhood.

Or if you really think a certain neighbourhood is hopeless, make it a crime to let a child set foot in that neighbourhood so that parents have no choice but to abandon it. It's drastic, but it makes more sense than leaving kids from bad neighbourhoods with subpar education.

[Partybus]

I went to a private boarding school in northern Maine, it was an horrific experience for me. My parents shipped me up there because I was a miserable fuck in high school, they did it with the best of intentions though, to "keep me out of trouble." Didn't work LOL! Of course not all of my boarding school experiences were negative, but, close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades. Really my fondest memory was going back for my fifth reunion and my English teacher making me a bloody mary, it was at that moment that I decided he was harsh with me because he saw my potential, I guess.

[Geneviev]

Depends on the type of student. For an introverted kid who relies on solitude for their mental well being, it could be a very unpleasant experience. Other students will be happier in such an environment.

Personally though, I'm not a fan. I think a student's school being omnipresent can be damaging to individuality.

Being that introverted kid, the public school I'm at now is much harder than the other school I went to before. It had more practice rooms which public schools generally don't seem to have. And individuality in better boarding schools is encouraged.

That sort of abuse is much less common than it once was. Boarding schools, for the most part, have done everything they could to solve that problem. The advantage of better academics and arts would never exist as much in public schools or private day schools.

When it comes to the arts, we have a very good regional public music school. Students who are into music, singing, dancing and theater can attend this school in the afternoons. And being public its free. The building they are in was built a few years ago at a price of $120 million US dollars. A very short example of one of the programs at the school - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSZtYtbhczE and this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3bMchk0Vlc

The problem is that public schools cut the arts constantly because of budget problems. Even if they have a decent program, it's still underfunded and not as advanced.

[Geneviev]

Imagine if the money wealthy parents poured into boarding schools was instead poured into making public schools better.

It's almost as if when you cut and run from everyone else's problems, you make only a marginal dent in your own.

They don't stop paying taxes. It's just that those schools still don't get the money and private schools actually have enough money. Not to mention a lot of people who are in a boarding school actually are there because of tuition aid and aren't really that rich.

[LimaUniformNovemberAlpha]

Imagine if the money wealthy parents poured into boarding schools was instead poured into making public schools better.

It's almost as if when you cut and run from everyone else's problems, you make only a marginal dent in your own.

They don't stop paying taxes. It's just that those schools still don't get the money and private schools actually have enough money. Not to mention a lot of people who are in a boarding school actually are there because of tuition aid and aren't really that rich.

Still creates brain drain away from the public sector, though.

[Page]

Imagine if the money wealthy parents poured into boarding schools was instead poured into making public schools better.

It's almost as if when you cut and run from everyone else's problems, you make only a marginal dent in your own.

They don't stop paying taxes. It's just that those schools still don't get the money and private schools actually have enough money. Not to mention a lot of people who are in a boarding school actually are there because of tuition aid and aren't really that rich.

Boarding schools are not cheap, I'm sure some students' families get tuition aid but for the most part, they must have something to start with. Not all millionaires but I doubt many working class families get that opportunity.

[Luziyca]

It depends on the boarding school: if there are substantial regulations to ensure that the children aren't being abused, then I won't mind having them operate. If they're like the residential schools that Canada had until 1996, then, fuck no.

[Page]

I would have gone crazy if I were at a boarding school, I need my own room, and I hate uniforms. Only bright side I guess is that I know rich boarding school kids have the best plugs.

[Misthas]

Imagine if the money wealthy parents poured into boarding schools was instead poured into making public schools better.

It's almost as if when you cut and run from everyone else's problems, you make only a marginal dent in your own.

Although I agree with your point somewhat, it would require almost every private school parent to fund public schools to make a difference, and even then, the difference would not be as great as you think, as private school attendance is far smaller than public school attendance. It's like asking all the wealthy people to give all their money to charity and take on the new average income. While they've made somewhat of a difference in the well being on the world as a whole, I doubt they'd be happy making only ~15k a year. Furthermore, I don't think private schools are only marginally better than public schools; the tuition cost reflects this. So no, I don't think people are only making a marginal dent in their own problems, and the difference in quality gained if the money was poured into public school funding would not be as significant as you think.

[Page]

I'm not at all against private schools but the public school system needs radical reform so fewer people think they need a private school for their kids. The most important change would be to change how public schools are funded. That they're funded by property taxes now mean that money is allocated based on the affluence of the neighborhood rather than need. Instead, each school should be allocated funding at the state and national level.

We also need to stop punishing teachers for their students getting bad standardized test scores, because it discourages good teachers from working in struggling schools.

[Geneviev]

They don't stop paying taxes. It's just that those schools still don't get the money and private schools actually have enough money. Not to mention a lot of people who are in a boarding school actually are there because of tuition aid and aren't really that rich.

Boarding schools are not cheap, I'm sure some students' families get tuition aid but for the most part, they must have something to start with. Not all millionaires but I doubt many working class families get that opportunity.

Where I was about 75% (by my estimation) had some sort of tuition aid. Most weren't too rich at all.

I would have gone crazy if I were at a boarding school, I need my own room, and I hate uniforms. Only bright side I guess is that I know rich boarding school kids have the best plugs.

Uniforms are really useful.

It depends on the boarding school: if there are substantial regulations to ensure that the children aren't being abused, then I won't mind having them operate. If they're like the residential schools that Canada had until 1996, then, fuck no.

There are regulations and most boarding schools have never had problems like that.

[Uxupox]

Boarding schools are schools where students can live. Because of that, they are generally very expensive. They are also usually much better than day schools in academics and have more sports and arts than public or private day schools. Boarding schools are also good for students whose parents move around a lot or are in another country for some time.

However, some people believe that boarding schools aren't as good as they seem. In this article, boarding schools are described as dangerous to mental health because they separate children from their families.

What do you think about boarding schools, NSG? Are they good or bad?

I think boarding schools are much better than day schools because of specialized arts programs that a lot of them have, and the fact that they allow a person whose parents are away for some time to have a more stable place to live.

There isn't much difference between public schools and private schools in the matter of educational curriculum. What is different though is the people unto whom you have as classmates. There is a world of difference if your friend and classmate is the son/daughter of a political official, CEO, future stake holder and etc. It offers more opportunities for success in the future by the terms of socializing and getting to know in that sort of environment.