Talk:Boarding school

message: This article might seem out of date when selectively compared to some experimental schools and elite prep schools. However this article is valid when taking into account the systems common to boarding schools around the entire world. Robin klein 03:41, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I never got the impression that the school I went to was either experimental, elite or prep.  Moreover, who here goes/went to a school where people stay for the half term break?  How did you pass the time? -- Smjg 14:41, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)

text: Even if in many countries half term breaks still don't exist, it's misleading considering the extent to which the article appears to have been written from a British viewpoint.  We ought to improve on this bit of information a bit.... -- Smjg 15:55, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree that this article seems to have little to do with the, I think fairly typical, boarding school that I attended from 1995-2000. The first two paragraphs under "Boarding School Description" seem to have been written from a very odd viewpoint (why is it so important to list the various rooms, and what school has a "storehouse" for personal belongings?) and the minute cataloguing of different types of boarders is simply incorrect in relation to any school I know. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.205.31.138 (talk) 01:04, 19 May 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Not out of date

message: This whole article is written in a messy and confusing manner, and seems to be 50 years out of date in everything it says, both about the structure of boarding schools, and their use/popularity in various countries. Is there an informed person who can overhaul it? 11:12, 20 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I entirely agree that this whole article needs rewriting with a NPOV by people who know what they are writing about, internationally.  We'll be told that they wear top hats at Eton next...! ) Jezzabr 17:20, 2 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  It's a terrible article and very biased toward UK boarding schools.  It should be organized as to information that is valid for all countries' boarding schools, and then split off by individual country.  Anyone up for the task?  --CountryMama27 (talk) 18:45, 21 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Messy!

message: The section on the U.S. is so incomplete as to be inaccurate. The United States has a well-developed network of independent, private secondary schools, both religiously affiliated and otherwise, boarding and day. Many are modeled after the British public school, especially in atmosphere. Let's get cracking, chaps! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 169.237.136.88 (talk) 06:56, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Needs substantial revision 

message: My House adviser when I was talking to him once mentioned a term that gave him 'parental authority' over me signed over by my parents (and the parents of all boarders). My memory says that the term was Parental Locus but I can't seem to find it elsewhere on google, is anyone aware of the proper term that I am looking for? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Falieson (talk • contribs) 00:46, 7 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: In loco parentis? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.143.229.49 (talk) 06:53, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: It is "in loco parentis" which is Latin for "in the place of parents."  It's a legal term that permits the school to act in the student's best interest when the parents are not available --CountryMama27 (talk) 18:38, 21 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Question: Term used for House Advisers 

message: There should be a section about bedtime, or lights-out. Angie Y. 23:45, 18 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Lights out (academia)

message: I think that the use of boarding schools as an attack upon indigenous cultures is a very important issue that may need more coverage from a historical perspective in this article (is this still happening?).  At the same time, this article has an overall atmosphere of "modernity" that puts an excessive emphasis on social theory without any real  scientific basis.  In particular I take issue with the supposed benefits of prolonging childhood by keeping children within the family structure past adolescence.  Is there any evidence, aside from the very factual dominance of the ruling classes, for the positive or negative effects of boarding schools? Any social practice can be done well or poorly.  Since all issues associated with human society are highly complex, we must strive much harder not to make statements that are more fashionable than  factual.  
Speaking as a father whose children did not go to preparatory boarding schools, I think that we need to recognize that many boys and/or girls need a broader perspective than their (often disrespected) families can provide as they reach the fledgling stages of adolescence.  There is a very deep and well documented history of this kind of cultural education, from the extended initiations of the australian aborigines (and other indigenous peoples) to the upper class boarding schools of the British.  The main reason that my children did not go to boarding schools was expense, and it needs to be noted in this article that - mostly - boarding schools are the prerogative of the well-to-do.
Coming of age is a very difficult period in all times and in all places for people.  Getting away from the idiosyncracies of any particular (amateur) family is one way of facilitating the process. I am writing this on the "talk" page because I am not prepared to do the research and find the citations to improve this article myself.  Instead, I may take the lazier approach of asking for citations with every questionable assertion.Bob 00:24, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Nearly every section of this article highlights possible negatives of boarding schools (psychological damage, bullying, implication of broken families, etc) with doing little to show any positives (there are many). Many of the accusations against boarding school life, such as the use of stimulants, could in fact be said of any high school, at least in the US. Both the Sociological and Psychological sections should be removed or revised to make this article more neutral.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.143.208.68 (talk) 18:23, 14 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Neutral Point of View

message: i am doing a project on boarding schools and i was wondering if there was any good websites that i could go on that would be great 
--89.100.67.233 14:49, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Any good websites?

message: This sure doesn't look very relevant...Promotion of the school. Elainexe 15:40, 21 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree that the Malta stuff should go. We are not advertising for individual schools here. 70.150.94.194 18:41, 21 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Malta 

message: This article only seems to promote the negative aspects and stigma associated with boarding school. It doesn't really mention the positive aspects of such an education. Could someone balance this article out a bit? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.49.25.229 (talk) 06:11, 23 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Shure can! Boarding Schools can be horrible places to grow up. Homesick? I was glad to be out from under my mothers temper and so the violence I endured at boarding school was tolerable. 'Hazing' rituals have been publisized but I didn't see those mentioned in this article. Complicit staff (authority figures) make the nightmare a reality. Ask almost any native Canadian that went through the 'residential school' system. I figure billions have been payed out in compensation. Parents need to take responsibility for their children, including their education. I'm the first to agree that its not always possible when a parent needs to have two or three jobs just to put food on the table, but their children are not the ones to be sent to private schools. Simply put, there is no good substitution for raising your own children, all the way to adult. 68.69.212.200 (talk) 20:46, 28 May 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  A Bit Jaded? 

message: We have this in the front of the article does it need to be their or would we be better off putting it further back and expanding it? Also while the US maybe the only country to have "millitary academies" as high school institutions, (though I doubt it britain cirtaintly did in the past) Millitray training at boarding schools is not solely a US thing, check out the wikipedia entries for Eton and Cheltenham.70.150.94.194 (talk) 21:24, 5 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Military Training

message: While I agree that most boarding schools charge fees is it a proper part of the definition? If not I will remove. Action will be taken if there is no reply within 48 hours.70.150.94.194 (talk) 14:36, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Fee charging

message: I know of no school that uses this terminology nore was it curenet among students when I was at school. It will be removed unless evidence is provided promptly. Stephen W. Houghton II 96.26.177.229 (talk) 02:41, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi, I'm new to this entry of boarding school, but I attended a boarding school in the US called The Vanguard School located in Lake Wales, Florida. Our school had/has a 13th year program. It was to provide either finishing credits for students who fell behind for any reason or as an extra college/university prep program, as needed, for the individual student who elected to participate. It was/is boarding in nature. I have heard of other boarding schools providing this, and as such it should be included, albeit scrubbed up a bit. (I do agree; the entire article POV needs help.) It was called 13th year, grade 13 or the 13th grade by the students. Alicein1derland Alicein1derland (talk) 05:25, 14 January 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: 13th Grade

message: I have a problem with this section that I want to discuss. First I think the title is blatantly NPOV it asserts that the regulations are essential. This is of course an opinion. Secondly,  why do we need a discussion of the minutia of boarding school regulations. Thirdly if arguendo it is desireable to have a discussion of such regulations why are we only discussing UK regulations. Lastly what the heck does lights-out as a phenomena have to do with this topic.
I propose that we move the last graph on lights-out into the section on typical boarding school characteristics and delete the rest. Comments please.  
PS I have made the changes I proposed re 13th grade and fee charging.
Stephen W. Houghton II, Eaglebrook ‘86 Avon Old Farms ‘89 96.26.177.229 (talk) 03:26, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Re section Basic Guidelines and essential regulations

message: Much of the material here is useful, but it is dreadfully ill organized. I think the first thing we need to do is get a history section put together. Some of the material from this section can be used as a first draft of a history section.  Ideally the history section should eventually be divided up with sub sections of different countries. The same thing needs to be done with the section on boarding schools across societies.
Here is a proposed opening paragraph for a history section.
The question when was the first boarding school founded is a difficult one to answer. The practices of fostering children with other families so they could learn is of very long standing, with records going back thousands of years. In Europe the practice of sending boys to monasteries for their education developed. The school often considered the worlds oldest boarding school, King’s School Canterbury, counts the development of the monastery school  in around 597 AD to be the date of the schools founding. However all of the monastic schools were dissolved with the monasteries themselves under Henry VIII. The school that can probably claim to be the oldest boarding school in continual operation is Winchester College founded by Bishop William of Wykeham in 1382.
If There is no complaint about this I will add it to the article in 24 hours.
Stephen W. Houghton II, Eaglebrook ‘86 Avon Old Farms ‘89  76.18.234.53 (talk) 00:13, 1 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Re section Boarding schools across societies and History

message: We need a good opening graph for this section. I propose the following
“Boarding Schools manifest themselves in different ways in different societies.  For example, in some societies children start boarding school at an earlier age than in others.  In some societies, a tradition has developed in which families send their children to the same boarding school for generations. “
“One observation that appears to apply globally is that a significantly large number of boys than girls attend boarding school and for a longer span of time.”
Then we need to take the material we have already and divided it by country. 
Stephen W. Houghton II, Eaglebrook ‘86 Avon Old Farms ‘89 76.18.234.53 (talk) 18:56, 5 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  More on Boarding schools across societies

message: This section is incomplete, I'm afraid:
* Though "In the UK, almost all boarding schools are independent schools," nowadays, that wasn't always so. Some 19th century Voluntary Schools took boarders, and section 8(2)(d) of the Education Act 1944 required local education authorities to consider the need for boarding accommodation.  Today there are still 35 state schools offering boarding, as listed by the UK State Boarding Schools Association. This needs to be mentioned.
* The practice of creating (mostly state-funded) boarding schools to assimilate minorities was much more widespread and indeed pre-dates the schools for North American Indians. The United Nations study describes this process in Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, the Russian Federation, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Though forced assimilation is no longer the object, there is a move in Australia towards building new boarding schools for indigenous children in remote communities, because "at the moment, the vast majority of kids in the Northern Territory don't have a secondary school to go to."
I'd love to help fix it but I'm trying to improve a different set of articles at the moment so all I can do is leave you the references I've found. Good luck - Pointillist (talk) 09:26, 22 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Boarding schools across societies" needs more on state boarding schools etc 

message: Hello I was hoping to add a link to this website but there appears to be no external link section. 
http://www.boardingconcern.org.uk 
Sbtbrownis (talk) 18:58, 25 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  boarding concern 

message: text by User talk:216.7.233.62 deleted on 18th december 2010 as it has no references. 
:"As to confiding among students, elite boys boarding schools have encouraged an atmosphere of secrecy among the youths, some enduring homosexual abuses by their peers if considered weak or effiminate, or simply as a customary behavior of older boys towards the younger ones; yet, that was a matter of the strictest secrecy. To "rat" on another youth was a terrible taboo in a boarding school, and one was under great compulsion to simple bear the abuse as silently as possible and to toughen up. This is a matter of great secrecy among many who went on to become people of stature, leaders and the "movers & shakers" of society: secrecy was continued therefore well after leaving the boarding school environment, as exposure of homosexual rape of a political or business figure might endanger their ambitions. It is perhaps, then, no surprise that while frowned upon, publicly, there has been so much of a move in politics towards rights and benefits for homosexuality, as many leaders who have been touched directly or indirectly by such boarding school experiences (and whose pasts are known by others from such places) are loathe to too shaply oppose such behaviors. It would be a matter of public interest indeed to know how many public servants are compromised in their ideals due to such secretive past turmoils in all-boys boarding schools, some of which have been exposed from time-to-time in cases of child sexual abuse scandels.
:"Homesickness and a sense of helplessness and isolation have often given rise to boys sexually abusing other boys in boarding schools, perhaps fueled partly by pedophilia from men in supervisory positions at times. However, some of the boy-on-boy abuses were strictly a form of pecking order and power-roles among youths. Some boys were chosen for homosexual abuse due to seeming effeminate by the standards of other boys, and sometimes it was simply a matter of the younger boys serving as surrogates for the ensuing sexual hunger of older boys going through puberty in a cloistered, same-sex environment away from home and all or most normal affection. It was considered a complete obligation to not "rat" on one's peers -- other boys -- in a boarding school. A boy had to be tough and simply take it. Away from parents, he was becoming a "man", who had to be tough in his future business affairs of life. After boarding school, the youths were inclined to keep any such abuses secret, as they could damage reputations and careers if known. It is therefore little wonder that many leaders in western societies, whether by direct or indirect association with the discreet boy-on-boy abuses in elit eboarding schools, may have quietly gone on to tolerate or promote a growing movement for legalization of homosexuality in governmental positions. Who knows the number of men bound by secret acts and fear of such things being exposed, whether in government circles or in business.:
text by User talk:216.7.233.62 deleted on 18th december 2010 as it has no references. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Robin klein (talk • contribs) 02:49, 8 January 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  boarding school and suppression 

message: The following comment was posted on the article page
i am a very dedicated user of Wikipedia and love that this site exists, the fact that it is free and commercial-free is astounding. i would like to help in anyway possible so i am attempting to now.  Wikipedia carries much more validity now than ever and that pleases me =]   I do not mean to discuss this i am actually  offering help to this website in this specific article.
since i did not see the "edit" hyperlink   on the first section ( it was not recognized as a section in the article's "contents") i am offering my suggestion for correction in this section forgive me if this is not appropriate.   
"In the Soviet Union were introduced similar schools known as internat-school"  
i believe this sentence is grammatically incorrect and to increase faith and validity in this site i am offering a possibly correct version of this sentence.  
"In the Soviet Union similar schools were introduced known as internat-school"  i believe is atleast -more- correct though i am not a licensed linguist i think this should be corrected as it is in the beginning of the article... the part i direct my attention to most when i study.
an alternative could be "In the Soviet Union similar schools were also introduced known as internat-school"
also i believe "internat-school" should be capitalized 
congrats on the great site its been a good friend to me =] i cannot donate but if the faculty ever would ever want me for assistance in any such issues with the site i will try to help to my best ability ( i think i am quite intelligent regardless of my lack of computer based knowledge)  
i will email soon my personal contacts...  as i believe this can be seen by public view
~cheers — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.183.49.53 (talk • contribs) 
:Thank you!  I moved your comment to the talk page, since this is where the article content is discussed.  You are absolutely right, of course.  I'll make the change as you suggested, but for future reference, the top section of an article can be edited by clicking "Edit this page" at the top of the page, i.e. the top section can only be edited if you open the edit page for the whole article, it doesn't exist as a separate sub-section (for some reason...)
:Cheers, --bonadea contributions talk 19:15, 13 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Comment from 24.183.49.53 

message: I came to this site for information about the abusive history of teachers at boarding schools and all I found was professors pet projects about physiological and sociological effects and other convoluted mumbo jumbo that I don't care to know. Can someone include some information about the "golden age" of boarding schools or at least an external link to that history? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 166.182.3.114 (talk) 04:32, 3 July 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Thank you sir, may I have another? 

message: "Outside of New England, notable boarding schools include... St. George's School, The Gunnery, Kent School, Miss Porter's School, Canterbury School..." 
All of these schools are very much INSIDE of New England (St. George's being in Rhode Island and the rest are Connecticut schools.) That should be changed. The preceding paragraph to this statement reads "Within the Northeast..." and goes on to list a number of northeastern boarding schools. New England is a segment of the northeast but would certainly not entail what most would consider to be the entire northeastern quadrant of the U.S. So "outside of New England" should read "outside of the northeast." That would provide a far more accurate perspective. Also, many of the schools listed "Outside of New England" are very much northeastern schools (such as NY's  Millbrook, PA's Hill, and NJ's Blair and  Lawrenceville) so it is rather confusing not to include them in the notable northeastern section. To say "notable northeast," and then follow with "notable outside of New England" while still including northeastern institutions does not make sense.
The lists of schools should be renamed "northeast" and "outside of the northeast," or some proper variation, and regrouped correctly. The schools that are incorrectly listed as "outside of New England," should probably be relocated or omitted. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.216.88.145 (talk) 08:30, 4 July 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: I question the definition of boarding schools with pre-Revolutionary and/or colonial roots in North America.  Many of the schools listed were founded well after the American colonial period, and some were founded in the early 20th century!  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.250.175.25 (talk) 16:56, 18 August 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Furthermore on Boarding schools across societies

message: At the moment, this large section is an indiscriminate list of appearances in pop culture (see WP:IPC. As the template I've added states, such sections, if they exist at all, should explain the subject's impact on popular culture rather than simply listing appearances. If there are reliable sources out there discussing the impact of boarding schools on popular culture, have at it. The lists, though, are not encyclopedic. - SummerPhD (talk) 20:33, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  In popular culture 

message: Do we need a wiki subsection dedicated to the label of Boarding School Syndrome?
The work of the psychotherapist Joy Schaverien Phd goes in depth into the principles and behaviour that is labelled Boarding School Syndrome. does this merit inclusion on the Boarding school page? Opinion please.--Redblossom (talk) 09:31, 4 June 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Also the article should indicate, if possible, what findings apply to those who attended boarding schools from elementary grades, e.g., age 7, versus those who didn't attend until the secondary school level (high school in the US).  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.250.175.25 (talk) 16:58, 18 August 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Boarding School Syndrome? 

message: This article is very biased; it basically reads something like "boarding schools are terrible and will ruin the life of the child forever". The sections "Sociological issues of boarding schools" and "Psychological issues of boarding schools" are entirely negative, give undue weight to certain opinions (see above the complaint about "Boarding School Syndrome"), and are also focused on the UK and the US, and do not address other (non-Western) cultures. Other parts are about bullying and abuse that may take place in boarding schools, rather than about the concept itself of attending a boarding school - and maltreatment can take place in any environment, including home. The article seems to me very biased: for example, it ignores the fact that in some parts of the world boarding schools are virtually the only solution to a complete education for many families (where parents live in rural areas where there is only an elementary school, so the child has to study secondary education in a different place and board - this used to be the case in the past in Western countries too). So basically in these cultures boarding schools are the only way to further the child's education and eradicate the cycle of poverty/under-education; and parents often make great financial efforts to ensure such an education for the children. I tagged the article and I hope it improves. 2A02:2F01:505F:FFFF:0:0:50C:840E (talk) 21:45, 10 November 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Another problem is that much of this article is constructed using sources from the 1960s and 1970s, but presenting them as if their conclusions are necessarily  applicable today, in contemporary society, for contemporary boarding schools.2A02:2F01:505F:FFFF:0:0:50C:840E (talk) 01:25, 11 November 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  NPOV 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: I added List of state boarding schools in England and Wales, and it was reverted as not relevant to the history section. Then I added a sentence about these British state schools, with a piped link, to the last bullet point within the section on "Other forms of residential schools", which as it stood was entirely about the United States. This time the edit summary of the reversion stated "we have the overall list in See also section". There is no reference to this article there, and any attempt to find it is several clicks away. Why the opposition to including British state schools? If the classic imagined boarding school is a combination of Hogwarts and Eton, i.e. British and elite, why not include the current reality? Carbon Caryatid (talk) 11:27, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Useful link, twice reverted 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: in british boarding schools if you start violence then you get kicked out and are not allowed back in.--69.4.62.155 (talk) 15:35, 5 September 2019 (UTC)
thread_title: If you start violence