In fact the evidence shows that most parents don’t want to spend time together as a family. There was a survey last year that found that less than a third of families eat a daily meal together. The recent debate around social media and smart phones for children showed that many children spend much of their time outside school on the internet, not having family time with their parents - many of whom are themselves exhausted from their work and/or pursuing their own interests such as the gym or doing household chores. You just have to see the many many threads on mumsnet about blended families to see stories of horrible family situations with very unhappy children and parents who prioritise their own happiness over that of their children and children being ferried backwards and forwards with no stability.
The boarding vs day school debate often presupposes that children have an amazing time at regular day school: but this is not the universal experience. While there are people who went to boarding school and regret the experience, there are also people who were glad to see the back of their day school and the bullying/boredom/pettiness etc etc and never see their classmates at all.
You entrust your children to “complete strangers” every day when you send them to school - you can’t possibly know all the adults they encounter during the school day. Again, you will find many threads on mumsnet where children have been exposed to inappropriate material by teachers - at day schools.
You don’t think boarding schools are right for your family - I get that and I understand that - but for some families they are a very good option for both the children and the parents - and it depends on the parents and the children and the school fit. But I don’t think a blanket good/bad is the right paradigm.
For some families where both parents work and one or both travel a lot or are posted abroad, boarding school works very well. For some overseas families, the quality of a British education is something they aspire to for their children and this is only possible through boarding. For others the opportunities of on-site sport/music/volunteering/acting etc are too compelling to pass up. For others, the journey times to a good school are too long and boarding is a better option.
I think it is wonderful that in this country we have so much choice in schools - and don’t forget there are state boarding schools too - in fact David Lammy the deputy prime minister went to a state boarding school as a chorister and he says it transformed his life.
There is so much inverse snobbery around boarding schools. Why can’t we all be grateful that it’s there as one of many options, right for some people, and there are other options right for other people?
(And, no, I didn’t go to boarding school and my children didn’t go to boarding school, but I can respect other people’s choices and accept that they made what they hoped would be the best choice for their family - as I’m sure William and Kate will do.)
Edit: oops I just remembered that David Lammy isn’t foreign secretary anymore, he’s deputy prime minister!