Sending 8 year olds to boarding school

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liaconn

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Anyone see the Cutting Edge programme last night about children of 8 being sent to boarding school? I thought it was pretty sad and really think 8 is far too young to send children away from home.
 
I went to boarding school at 12, my memory of it is for the most part it was a positive experience, but it was difficult, especially for the first year or so. I still remember lying in bed in the dorm on the first night hearing guys crying and feeling pretty miserable myself. Whilst I did get over it in time and I think it did me more good then harm, I still wouldn't send my kids off. As for 8, that's a crazy age to send a child off like that, no way are they mature enough to cope with it
 
liaconn said:
Anyone see the Cutting Edge programme last night about children of 8 being sent to boarding school? I thought it was pretty sad and really think 8 is far too young to send children away from home.
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I think it's awful too. I did a thing called day boarding in secondary school. More or less the same as boarding except you don't sleep over. So you do school lessons, school meals, sport after school and then prep. Home at 9pm. You were in no mans land - neither day pupil nor boarder. Have to say I found it very beneficial though. Only did it during exam years (Inter and Leaving) and it did do away with a lot of distractions.

Sending 8 year olds away from home must be incredibly damaging to their sense of security.

A.
 
Prep schools are more an English concept, aren't they?

Boarding schools in Irl are usually secondary schools.
 
Went to boarding school from the age of 11 in 1961 and spent six years there. It certainly instills a sense of self worth, gives no distractions and makes you more responsible (at that age). But going away at 8? Not so sure. At that age you're still a bit clingy and it's possible that it would emotionally cauterise one or drive others into the realms of fantasy - like Harry Potter. I may be inclined to question the parent/guardian's motive.
 
8 is too young. I didn't think any Irish boarding schools took children as young as that anymore. I've only positive experiences of boarding school and my children will be attending one at 12 years of age.
 
One of my friends went to boarding school between the ages of 12 and 17. When he went home at weekends his parents encouraged him to stay with his sisters or brothers. It was obvious to him and to most other people that he was cramping their style and that they thought he was a burden. I thought it was very sad.

The boarding school was fine so I'm not knocking that. I am questioning people motives though when they send their children away. Surely a parent should be the biggest influence on a child growing up and not an institution.
 
I didn't see the start of it so I didn't know what reason the parents of April had for sending her there .. . .but it did seem like a bad idea, the mother and daughter were both miserable.
 
Her father was in the army so the family had to move around a lot and they thought boarding school would give her a bit of consistency. While I can see the logic in that with teenagers, I think an 8 year old should be with their parents. Her older brother was also at the school and he said the way he had coped was to not go home for weekends and that way he found it easier to forget about his mother and then didn't miss her so much. I thought that was terribly sad.
 
liaconn said:
Her father was in the army so the family had to move around a lot
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Not quite true - The father had to move around a lot, but the missus didn't necessarily have to go with him. She was choosing to move around rather than have a stable base for her children.
 
I assumed that they were living in army accommodation and had to go wherever they were sent?
 
Didn't see the program. Would imagine however, that they are not the first family where one member works in the army. Surely other such families have come to an arrangement whereby the children can reside at home?
 
True. I wonder do the Army pay for the school. I'd imagine boarding school fees would be out of the reach of a lot of rank and file army personnel.
 
Afternoon all,
I missed the end of the program.....digital recorder missed the last 5 mins:mad:

What happened with April.....did they remove her from the school in the end?

On the whole topic....I could see the logic and eventhough kids are growing up much faster these days, 8 is still a bit young. In April's case it seemed like no one was happy, even the Mum was miserable with the whole situation.
 
Her parents reduced the amount of contact they had with her - particularly the mother. By the end of term she had settled down, had become best friends with one of the other featured children and, in fairness, seemed to be happy. I still wouldn't send an 8 year old away like that though.
 
A friend of mine attended boarding school from primary school onwards. To this day he still has issues with his parents as well as other issues arising from the experience - the sense of abandonment has had a big impact on his life. While I'm sure some kids that young may get on fine in boarding school, I think there is a reasonable chance that they could react like my friend - not a risk I would be willing to take.
 
What was the motivation for the parents to send their children to boarding school?
Was it purely to get the best education money could buy or was it to make the children more independent etc?
 
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