It doesn't come cheap. Too often public schools ignore social and racial pressures affecting children, Brewton argues. His little friends offered him protection, his posse, and his posse didn't see themselves as going to school. White middle-class teachers who criticize poorer black students should take their values and go live one week in the neighborhood of these children, Brewton said. But no matter how much he liked this school, Christian still wanted to go home.
Most students do.
Even if they've been beaten back home. Or sexually abused. Even if family visits end in shouting matches. Because, after all, it's still home. At Vanderheyden, an overnight counselor locks each cottage at 10 p.m., then works through the night.