To think people who say that they wouldn't have children if they couldn't afford to educate them privately are ...

[seeker]

.....bonkers?

And before anyone says that nobody has ever said that, there have been plenty of threads on here with people saying they stopped at one, or advising people not to have a 3rd because they can't afford private school for more. So presumably they wouldn't have had any if they could not send them to private school.

thebest, you mean you haven't got that in your catchment area? Dear me, perhaps you ought to move to seeker's!

GrahamTribe.
I don't think I coukd afford it

I don't start threads about it all the time but I share Seeker's discomfort re. private education.

It is not as simple as "leave people to make their own choices and forget about it".

Because it perpetuates the financial hierarchy in society, rich ppl send their kids to private school so then when they grow up they are rich and so on. Rich people have a huge amount of influence over politics and majority of politicians are rich and went to private school. These people have little interest in the nhs, state schooling, benefits etc so these are neglected in favour of policies that benefit the wealthy. Poor nhs, public service means poorer people die. And it's just getting worse, huge tax cuts for the wealthy mean plus the fact that many wealthy ppl have been basically allowed to tax evade. I think private schooling and medical care should be abolished. If it were in the interests of the wealthy for state run things to improve then they would and it would be better for us all. I don't think your kid having a better education is worth the effect it has on the majority of society.

Nor is it as simple as people being selfish bibbity.

I'm sorry krumbum, I still don't understand. How exactly do private schools prevent people accessing healthcare?
I could understand it more if we were talking about private healthcare but this I just don't get.

I'm not being facetious, I'm genuinely curious.

Where I have seen evidence of money affecting private education, both in the UK and here in Australia is privately educating the boys, but not the girls. It's only my personal observation, so hardly a survey, but still rather .

but of course the (growing) independent system in this country does have an effect on most normal parents doesn't it?

it's a bit of a mad lunatic system and isn't fair, i really don't see why thinking that all children should be educated fairly is such a big deal

is it really an aim for wanting your own children to have to get a job that earns enough for their kids to be privately educated? seems like a circle of setting up someone for a life of materalism to me. and makes for a very boring population

Ah! Cross post, sorry.

Funny, I know loads of privately educated and educating people who work for the nhs, act as school governors, volunteer etc etc. sadly this doesn't fit in with some posters' "evil rich Tory bastards" world view.

Suppose I send my child to a state school, but pay for extra music lessons, language lessons, maths tuition etc.
Where does that fall?

When DH and I decided on family size it was down to a few factors. None of those were related to education. But then, I seem to have a stronger faith in state education than what appears to be the majority on MN. It could be down to both DH and I attending good state schools, I don't know.

I would find it odd if someone said to me that THE reason (not one of many) that they weren't having another is that they couldn't afford to send them to private school.

When the politicians stop fucking around with state education perhaps some of the perfectly nice and reasonably principled parents who have reluctantly made the decision to home ed or privately educate may be tempted back into the mainstream.

Yes I think they are bonkers.

But I've only come across the obsession with private education on MN

The state system cannot adequately educate the number of children is has now (IMO), why on earth would you want to increase this number by abolishing private schools? Roughly 505,368 (quoted from guardian website) more children? Classes of 40 or 45?

Coconutty

If we didn't have private schools we would have no Olympic team - most of Team GB were privately educated

I didn't know that. Which schools do they come from?

V true, usual. We do have to remember we are only speaking about 7% of the school population.

It's cumulative it keeps wealthy ppl wealthy and means we have a society based on the wants and needs of the wealthy and that means all public services including state schools, nhs, social services, benefits are below standard and getting worse with this Tory government. I want to live in a society where all children have the same rights independent of the wealth of their parents and where wealth does not mean political power.

perplexedpirate, you are paying out of your taxed income for a service, so no problem there; private schools enjoy charitable status and their staff get the advantage of the teachers' superannuation scheme, so there's an unfair advantage.

thebest.

krum, if private school children grow up to be rich does that not say something about the benefits of independent education and/or, perhaps more importantly, the failings of the state system?

I wonder whether seeker and those who agree with her would be just as keen on state education if they suddenly found themselves in financial ruin and had to move to the catchment area of this school, picked from a selection of several pretty dire ones in Lambeth.

i've only come across so many weirdy views on mn too, like not being allowed to watch itv

the middle classes really are a bore

I don't think it is unreasonable to say sending your child to private school is a selfish decision, please explain the arguments that providing 7 to 18% of the population a privileged education and opportunities benefits the other 82 to 93% of children.

However it takes a really altruistic parent to put their beliefs into practice if their local state comp has a less than 30% pass rate at GCSE. I'm really lucky, I opose both private education and grammar schools but then I live in an area with 3 state comp schools achieving 70% and over. I hope I would have been able to stick to my principles down to 50% but 30% I'm not so sure.

I think it is up to individuals to do what is right for their own life. Many years ago the db and sil of my then boyf said their first born would be their only child because of the cost of educating in the USA (where she was from and where they were planning to move to). I thought it a rather odd clearcut statement but decided that it was none of my business. Over two decades later a casual googling one evening revealed that she was the sole heiress to one of the wealthiest men in the world!

Seeker

You really do seem overly invested in the subject of private sxhools. It seems there isn't a thread about private schools you don't post on and you start many threads on the subject yourself.

It seems a tad obsessional.