Drugs at Private Schools

[abignael]

I have a DD in Sixth Form at a Surrey private school (day school) and I was recently looking at schools for my DS for the 11+ next year. I asked for her opinion on schools in the local area and was shocked that most her responses included references to the pupils there being “druggies.” I was particularly appalled when she told me that pupils at a school where I know a housemistress frequently smuggle in Ketamine and take it in their dorms. Apparently this is not uncommon at private schools - particularly boarding ones according to her. I won’t name the schools as I feel dragging their names through the mud at the behest of a teenage girl is inappropriate but could anyone enlighten me on this?

Jayne,

Not all school announce such things. If a school has a great place on league tables then they are less likely to struggle to get new pupils.They can play open like your school. But UK is full of less prominent private schools that struggle financially. They would send generic ans advisory messages and they would never publish names of the culprints. They would do anything to avoid bad-mouthing by the disgruntled parent.

The fact is that drug dealers are looking around private schools assuming that those kids have more money than state schools... Btw there are some private schools that will accept those expelled pupils and trust me these may not be private correction centres but just another " very forgiving" private secondary school that observes drop in popularity.

It is important to remember that private school is a business. They employ marketing staff members and they do many promotional activities to convince the parents of the prospective pupils that it is worth to pay the fees. The truth is that some school are worth it but many many are not at all.

Fully agree @ReneeX that oversubscribed super selective schools an afford to be fairly strict on drugs.

Least exposed would be a oversubscribed highly coveted school in a rural setting.

Most exposed would be any school in an urban setting. This could be struggling unranked (not in top 100) indy in survival mode, but it could equally be a state school with no ambition and no incentives to get rid of the rotten apples.

Drugs is cheaper than alcohol, so the argument that private schooled kids have more money thereby more drugs doesn’t hold any water. Drug addiction is typically not an upper(mid) class issue even if it makes for great urban legends.