AIBU to ask why there is such a visceral response to children in boarding schools?

[DaemonPantalaemon]

Is this a UK thing? I live in an African country where the best schools tend to be boarding schools, and so people are happy to send their children there. I was at such a school myself from the age of 12, and I never once thought that my parents had "sent me off" or 'dumped' me. In fact, I would say that 60 to 70% of the kids in my country are in boarding.

Does this mean that all the parents in my country who make this choice are bad parents? Or is this just a UK thing?

More importantly, I have heard really great things about the pastoral care at UK boarding schools, and would actually consider sending my own DC to a UK school when DC is about 12.

I am trying to get my head around why this would be such a bad choice, as it seems to be from the Mumsnet posts I have read. I can understand why some parents would not want to send their own DCs to such schools, but why is there such an immediate and visceral reaction about the choices that other parents make for THEIR children?

Surely parents who choose this option do it for the best reasons, and they would be careful about the schools they choose?

So why so much hate about choices other parents make for their own children?

I think if you read my post I did not say every country is the UK, I am telling you there is not a visceral response in my country but a practical, financial and human element to the choice.

You asked, I responded with my opinion, based on actual facts - the majority of people in this country cannot afford boarding school, some don't earn even the cost for non-boarding fees in a year.

I went to a boarding school oil for 5 years and my son recently got accepted into Pilgrims Winchester which I found to be a very nurturing school. He was very excited but after the Easter break he is a bit panicky and freaked out. Partly I think that the freedom he gets during the hollidays to do what he wants , watch TV and have downtime will change. We live abroad and UK education is much better than even the English schools in dubai. We want him to have this experience and have given him an option that he has to give it one chance, if he’s not happy after the first term then we can discuss him movingback. We will also be seeing him every Monday and he will Ben back for all the hollidays. Any tips how to conquer these fears?

WE will be seeing him every month *

In the UK, there are only a very small handful of BSs that are worth the money. I work with many former 'forces' children' who came through the minor BSs and I would've never in a million years guessed, hadn't they told me. There is none of the proper public school plumminess nor polish, neither seems the actual knowledge gathered to be substantial.
The old public shcools, well, apart from Charterhouse, as that has gone to the footballers, and a selected few on top.
My father and his etc, were sent to BS at 7 and I was made to promise never to send mine....

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