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Parents and children should openly
discuss the decision to attend boarding school.
A child or young person given the choice of attending a boarding school
should consider some important things before making a decision. Parents
who are exploring the idea of sending their child to a boarding school
should also consider these things from the viewpoint of the child as
well as from their own perspective. Parents and children need to
communicate their ideas and feelings and be in agreement if possible in
order to obtain the best results.
The child should realize that he or she will have to be separated from
his or her familiar routines, family, friends, and environment and
adjust to a new environment with typically more rigid and stringent
rules. The child is also likely to be surrounded at least temporarily by
strangers. When a child needs to talk to someone or be reassured about
something that makes him anxious, to whom does he turn? Even though
adults are available to help him, building trust in the school
counselors and teachers may take time.
For parents, finances may be a consideration as well as changes in
routine with their child gone. They need to ask themselves whether the
benefits they believe their child will gain are worth the expense. They
should ask themselves whether the same education and experience could be
secured by sending their child to a private day school, magnet school,
or even a good public high school.
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Making
the Decision to Send