Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
Psychotherapist Nick Duffell has written a fascinating article about the psychological effects of sending children at a young age to boarding school--a practice that persists widely in the class that forms Britain's political elite:
Having spent more than two decades studying and working therapeutically with ex-boarders, and being one myself, I am unfortunately no longer astonished how resistant our nation is to acknowledging the problems inevitably associated with this uniquely British habit of sending children away from home to be brought up in residential institutions. To imagine that they will turn out fully-fledged human beings without any psychological harm, able to function within loving families that they themselves barely experienced, manifestly denies logic. Yet, as a nation we seem reluctant to recognise, let alone shed, this addiction.
Of all the oddities of British culture, this always struck me as one of the greatest. I don't think I've ever met anyone who was educated at a British boarding school but seemed entirely emotionally well. The experience seems to produce precisely the pathologies he describes.
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May '10
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
I wonder if it is not so much the boarding school itself as it is the misfortune of having being born into a home with extremely ambitious parents who, perhaps, regard their children as little more than speed bumps on their road to success. My son, who attended a boarding school in the USA, reported to me that many of his classmates hated their parents.
Feb '11
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
Perhaps in the US...but in Britain, at least until fairly recently, it seems like a high % of parents sending their kids to boarding school *already had* a fairly high class status, which was often the result of choosing the right parents rather than a function of their own ambition and success, and hence were unlikely to have that somewhat-frantic quality of ambition which often marks their American counterparts.
Jun '10
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
That article might be fascinating to some, but to me it reads like a parody of pseudo scientific mumbo-jumbo entirely unsupported by any evidence whatsoever.
Psychonalysis is not science. This particular pyschonalyst specializes in "treating" boarding school patients, so he has an interest in inventing a theory about it, even if he can't sustain that with any evidence, just a long list of anecdotes.
It's that, or else the fact that I attended a British boarding school (Ricochet readers are indeed a diverse bunch) is putting me in denial.
Nov '10
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
Among the private school set, the practice of sending kids to boarding school very young is self-perpetuating, as much because of tradition as by necessity. English primary schools end at age 8, when kids are made to take huge comprehensive exams and their parents must make arrangements for the next school (which only goes through to age 13). In London, because most kids were usually sent away, there were and are still very few day schools going through 12th grade/6th form. Between the high number of ex-pats and immigrants in London and changing modes of parenting even in families whose sons have attended Eton since time immemorial, there just aren't enough places in the top London private day schools to accommodate all who might now want their kids to stay home, even if the kids have the grades.
Of course, there is always the state school option, but that is another story.....
Mar '11
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
Richard Russell: That article might be fascinating to some, but to me it reads like a parody of pseudo scientific mumbo-jumbo entirely unsupported by any evidence whatsoever.
Psychonalysis is not science. This particular pyschonalyst specializes in "treating" boarding school patients, so he has an interest in inventing a theory about it, even if he can't sustain that with any evidence, just a long list of anecdotes.
· Apr 25 at 7:13am
I agree. The article struck me as very heavy on the mumbo-jumbo. I think I'd look for objective opinion on the subject from someone whose email address doesn't include the term "boardingschoolsurvivors." Robert Donat must be spinning in his grave.
Feb '11
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
I wonder why this tradition evolved specifically in Britain. Are there any other countries (aside from British colonies/dominions) in which it is customary for higher-class parents to send their kids away at such an early age?
Jun '10
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
Many countries that were either part of the British Empire or had close relationships with the Brits have had histories of this method. The elite in Nepal, for instance, though never a colony, frequently sent their kids to boarding school. As a friend of one of them, he seems fine to me. Interestingly enough, there is a private school just down the road from me that still boards students... and it's Episcopalian. It seems that there are still plenty of strains of this influence in many places. From my perspective, I've always found the tradition a bit odd and cold.
Nov '10
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
Nov '10
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
Dave Molinari
Many countries that were either part of the British Empire or had close relationships with the Brits have had histories of this method. The elite in Nepal, for instance, though never a colony, frequently sent their kids to boarding school. As a friend of one of them, he seems fine to me. Interestingly enough, there is a private school just down the road from me that still boards students... and it's Episcopalian. It seems that there are still plenty of strains of this influence in many places. From my perspective, I've always found the tradition a bit odd and cold. · Apr 25 at 9:22am
Boarding for little kids? There are really very few of those in the States. Or boarding for kids in high school? There are many more of those. I in fact went to one, and enjoyed it a lot.
Mar '11
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
I hate to say it, but I can think of quite a few young kids today who would be much better off in a boarding school environment than in their current home environment.
Jun '10
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
Lucy Pevensie
Dave Molinari
Many countries that were either part of the British Empire or had close relationships with the Brits have had histories of this method. The elite in Nepal, for instance, though never a colony, frequently sent their kids to boarding school. As a friend of one of them, he seems fine to me. Interestingly enough, there is a private school just down the road from me that still boards students... and it's Episcopalian. It seems that there are still plenty of strains of this influence in many places. From my perspective, I've always found the tradition a bit odd and cold.
Boarding for little kids? There are really very few of those in the States. Or boarding for kids in high school? There are many more of those. I in fact went to one, and enjoyed it a lot.
I know that high school students can board there, so fair question. I looked at their website and it's a little hard to tell. It says K-12 on the home page, but I can't find any more information about age groups who can board during a cursory search. Anyway, the school is here.
Nov '10
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
I'd like to comment on this article at length, which probably means that I should write something for the Member Feed. I attended such a primary school, and then progressed to such a secondary school, before going on to university and adult life.
Obviously, the referenced article cannot be construed as being, in any way, scientific. More than this, the anecdotes out of which the article was pieced together are, in some ways, patently ridiculous. For example, does Nick Duffell seriously believe that working-class Brits have MORE patience with whifty psychotherapies than do wealthy and well-educated members of the upper classes? His professional "specialty" would appear to be a rather clever way to solicit the "carriage trade" of his profession, as it were. His idea that a desire to "flee therapy" is an intrinsic and structural component of the pathology would appear to offer him ample opportunities to manipulate his clients into continuing their therapy long after their better instincts began raising serious alarms about the quality of the services they were purchasing.
And yet, having said all this, I also have to say that a LOT of Duffell's narrative rings very true to me.
Edited on Apr 25, 2011 at 11:06amNov '10
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
Typo correction: "...before going on the university..." should be, "...before going on to university..."
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
Why would we be applying the standard of "scientific" here? We're not talking about measuring neutrinos, we're talking about things that almost by definition can't be measured or discussed that way: love, childhood, the emotional life. The practice of separating young children from their mothers and sending them away to be raised collectively by strangers is something most of us would instinctively associate with hideous socialist experiments. Does it not seem that the burden of proof here would be with those who would argue this is not harmful to a child?
Nov '10
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
There is ample scientific evidence that people who attend private boarding schools do extremely well professionally and financially. By almost any measure of externals, they are extremely successful people.
Are they unduly burdened with emotional, existential, and spiritual issues? Speaking first-hand, I think that this is quite probable. But I am also aware of the fact that almost all of the more commonly recognized individual and social pathologies-- criminality, substance abuse issues, a high divorce rate, etc.-- are much LESS prevalent among this class of people than is true for most people.
Nick Duffell might well say that I am "in denial," but, personally, I am happy to bear this existential burden, so long as it means that I might successfully discharge my responsibilities.
Mar '11
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
Thus requiring them to prove a negative? Since you're instinctively certain that the boarding school experience causes great psychological trauma, then you are correct. Scientific inquiry into the subject is not only impossible, it's redundant. It seems to me, though, that the Brits managed to build a rather robust empire under the leadership of their traumatized boarding school elite. Perhaps children are more resilient than we think.
Nov '10
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
Claire is correct that things such as love, childhood, and the emotional life cannot be discussed or measured in strictly scientific terms. But other things can be measured and discussed scientifically: suicide rates, divorce rates, bankruptcy rates, criminality, professional instability, etc. And it appears obvious to me, at least, that there is a considerable and fairly direct connection between the sorts of things that Claire highlighted and these sorts of things that can be scientifically measured and discussed.
Most people do not want to harm their children, or see them come to harm. Most of us, for example, instinctively want to shield our children from, say, disease. But the scientific fact of the matter is that our children NEED to be exposed to pathogens-- they need to get sick-- in order to develop an immunity system strong enough to allow them to survive their childhood. Our primal instincts do not always lead to good outcomes.
"Harm" is a relative term. Life is full of trade-offs.
The Duke of Wellington is, in some ways, the quintessential product of English boarding schools. And he delivered Europe from the horrors of Bonaparte. Similarly, Churchill did his duty magnificently when faced with Hitler.
Nov '10
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
English boarding schools evolved in response to two primary circumstances. And one of these two circumstances explains the fairly brutal and quasi-military culture of British public schools.
In the 16th century, England was faced with invasion from Spain-- a vastly superior military power. It became necessary for England, which had never previously possessed a standing army or officer class, to develop some means of mass-producing an officer class in order to fend-off the Spanish threat. These schools were seen as a way to do this. The subsequent military threat from the French reinforced the traditions of these schools. Why boarding schools, specifically? Because of English geography and demographics. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, there was really only ONE true city in England-- London. And everybody of consequence HAD to be in London. Other countries had multiple cities and a dispersed class of educated people. But in England, there was only London. And, for several uniquely English reasons, London was, in fact, a very dangerous and particularly unhealthy place. It was, probably correctly, deemed much better for children to be sent away from London to the country.
Jun '10
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
If someone says "If you do thing A, then thing B is more likely to happen to you", that can be tested scientifically. You do a proper study of a large enough sample of people who have done thing A, to see if thing B is really happening to them more than to those who didn't do thing A. This is how science has found the answers to pretty much everything that matters in medicine. If instead of that we say "Well, I am a humanities major and I don't understand science, so I will just exempt this question from science and instead do a straw poll of my friends, and then throw in some ideas of my own about what ought to happen when you do thing A" then we would never learn anything worth knowing.
Edited on Apr 25, 2011 at 1:19pmJun '10
Re: Such, Such Were the Joys: Boarding Schools and British Politics
You might be right about that Claire. But Duffell is effectively claiming that he has measured "it", and that boarding school people have "it" bad. Surely he has the burden to substantiate that, not the rest of us who suspect that "it" probably doesn't exist.
If we have a theory about a pathology that can't be measured, and a symptom of the pathology is that you dislike the theory, then it's a pretty empty theory.
Edited on Apr 25, 2011 at 1:46pm