Why do people openly criticise decisions to send your kids to a private school?

[scotmum1977]

I sent my Son to a private school (Glasgow) last year for various reasons and it's working out really well. There is the cost but we just do without expensive holidays etc. I can't think of a better gift for my children than a good education. I was so surprised at how offended people get when they ask which school he attends. They think it's ok to criticise you openly and make bitchy comments here and there. Surely how you spend your own money is your own business. Anyone else have this experience?

@flossietoot @twattymctwatterson billy Connolly is funny - but lives in LA. He's made a living taking the mick out of Glasgow, shipyards etc, most people who live here get that and find it funny but no it DOESNT represent Glasgow because erm he left here erm decades ago 😂😂😂😂

Because in my experience you get a special type of little oik in private schools

Flossy I've just commented on another thread about Billy Connelly. His humour very much reminds me of my own childhood. I'm a different generation and we weren't that poor but my dad slept 4 to a double bed under coats. It always reminds me of Billy talking about the priest visiting and them shouting "mum he's got his let down the sleeve of the coat" "it's not a coat, it's an eiderdown" "well he's got his leg in the sleeve of the eiderdown"

@twattymctwatterson aww Billy Connolly is such a shipyards working class legend. I find most of his humour so funny too but that's Glasgow 40 years ago and not today. My friends grandparents relate to that but no-one else lives like that now so please don't anyone think that's how we live now

@scotmum1977 are you actually denying my experience of the place I live right now? You genuinely need to get out in the city you live in and see a bit more than the West End. Perhaps people are being rude about you sending your child to private school because you lack awareness of the position of privilege you're in compared to the majority of people in the area you live in

Scotmum- the documentary was about his life in Glasgow in the 70s. It was all footage of then.
If Billy Connolly/ Kevin Bridges/ Elaine C Smith/ Irish influences all aren’t representative of the culture in Glasgow what do you think actually is???

Twatty- that was exactly my point. Glasgow is ancity of two halves and I am genuinely baffled how unaware the OP is to this.

You should jump on a bus and go to Provanmill. That'll really scare you

It also currently has something like 700 people a night being housed in temporary B and Bs due to homelessness. This is every night.

My foster son is currently staying in Provanmill with his dad. I think it has been quite the shock to the system.

@twattymctwatterson aww that's a wee bit nasty! no I was just saying yes it was like that in the past but not now. I've never accused anyone of lying and Infact that accusation by @flossietoot was actually removed by admin so I'm not sure it's fair to even go on about it. I have to say disappointed in you as s fellow Scot.

@twattymctwatterson also I live in the east end - not west end.

Scotmum- it is still like that!!! You just refuse to acknowledge it for some totally baffling reason.

Glasgow is and always will be an industrial city with sting working class roots, with huge issues around poverty, social exclusion, and sectarianism exacerbated by the strong Irish (leading to anti english sentiment) influences. All of this leading to a culture of not liking private schools!

Then I'm even more baffled that you don't seem to accept that Flossie and my description of large parts of Glasgow are accurate. If you're in the East End, 85 percent of the areas around you will be very deprived. There's also been a big uplift in gangland killings over the past year. You'll certainly understand the Irish Catholic thing with Parkhead not far from you. Just because I'm a fellow Scot doesn't mean I need to agree with you.

BT's my posts aren't designed to criticise Glasgow. I consider myself weegie through and through, even though I'm not technically in Glasgow right now. I've worked there for most of my life, i socialise there. The East of the city is my stomping ground and I love even the scummy bits. But I don't see the point in trying to pretend the massive problems don't exist

@flossietoot I think everyone In Scotland has watched Billy's documentaries about 20 times (May be new to you but theyve been around forever) but that still doesn't mean we lived his life 😂😂😂 I once watched a documentary about Alan sugar. So Everyone in London is a greengrocer wheeler n dealer.ONE person on here (from 500+ comments) is from Irish descent and lives in Glasgow abc has confirmed she is Irish and lives in east end, big family etc and has cropped up st 11th hour criticising comments I made 2 days ago...hmmmmm So anyway yes your sweeping observations of the city is true. "big Irish families living in poverty preoccupied by sectarian violence" . Brilliant!

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/24/glasgow-is-in-denial-over-monument-to-great-famine

• between 1 fifth and 1 third of Glaswegians are descendents of those fleeing the potato famine. So obviously there is a strong Irish influence! I didn’t make it up for the craic.

If that's directed at me I've not said I'm from a big family. I have one brother. I currently live in a town where the split is about 52% Irish Catholic descent. That's out of the ordinary in Scotland in terms of the rest of the population. We have a huge St Patrick's day celebration every year that lasts about a fortnight every year... so anyone who can work Google will tell you where I am. Do you actually know anything about Celtic Football Club and it's origins?

Scotmum- what exactly is preventing you from acknowledging mine and Twattys points about Glasgow? are you embarrassed by it? I am genuinely fascinated at how you can be in total denial that there are significant social issues in the city. The stats I have provided aren’t all made up. I now live in an even more deprived city. I am very proud to come from this city but wouldn’t dream of denying there are huge issues in it too.

I'm actually bewildered by your behaviour on this thread. I'm scratching my head trying to work out where you can be from in the East End

DH and I went to boarding school from a young age and, while we could (probably, just) afford to send our 4DC to public school, they are all at local state schools.

I was thrilled to be sent away as my home life was quite scary. I hated the holidays.

DH had a really terrible time at school.

Neither of us think the private/state system in the UK is a good thing - and I’d be willing to argue this in very strong terms with someone who wanted to engage in that discussion.

Despite my views, I would never (even privately) judge a parent who is trying to find the best school for their individual child though. That does seem to smack of jealousy.

There are always going to be rude, weird bastards willing to advertise their idiocy by behaving like cunts.
It’s quite useful, you can weed them out quickly .

You’ve got to learn to ignore them and do what you’ve decided is best for your DC.

I don’t think the OP is actually from Glasgow. Or if they are a special bit cut off from the rest of the city and was homeschooled!

I'm literally scratching my head here. Im actually googling "best areas in the East End" and it has bigger all for me 😂. Mount Vernon's quite nice I suppose but you certainly wouldn't be protected from the realities of living in this part of the city. Honestly op I'm not meaning this to be a pile on but you have been provided with actual facts rather than opinion.

Unfortunately I think both twatty and flossie have rather outdated stereotypes of Glasgow which are pretty inaccurate. Also Flossie seems to have a bee in her bonnet about Glaswegians voting for yes.

There are many affluent areas of Glasgow and I’m afraid the idea of it being like a billy connelly skit or episode of taggart are just not true. There are certainly areas of deprivation in Glasgow but as a pp noted probably less so than in London. Sectarianism is nothing like the problem it once was too and most areas are pretty mixed now.

Glasgow is a modern international multi cultural city. It also has many private schools. The proportion of those who send their children to private schools in Glasgow is less than Edinburgh though. This is likely as least partly because Glasgow has some excellent state schools in the suburban areas (East Renfrewshire/East Dunbartonshire) which isn’t the case in Edinburgh.

Anyway I think op should do what’s best for her child. It’s noone else’s business.