American Boarding Schools: Lessons Learned or Bitterness Harbored in Children?
Posted by Bestboarding on May 29th, 2014
Like any learning environment, boarding schools present advantages as well as disadvantages to students and their families. Are you currently trying to decide whether to send your child to a boarding school or not? Are you worried that your child might harbor bitterness towards if you enroll him or her in an American boarding school? To help you make a more informed decision, we have listed some of the most common advantages—and disadvantages—of sending a child to American boarding schools:
• Advantage: Boarding schools offer a dynamic learning atmosphere. There is no question that boarding schools generally provide a richer learning experience for students. According to studies, a majority of residential learning schools is well equipped with the most modern facilities, including administrative buildings, science laboratories, libraries, dining halls, theater facilities, dormitories, athletic complexes, and other essential school facilities. These all support accelerated academic progress and greater participation in various extracurricular activities like music, acting, painting, club activities, educational trips, and sports or field games. The unique 24-hour learning environment that boarding schools offer also gives students more time to focus on the schoolwork and participate in other activities.
• Advantage: Boarding schools promote strong social interactions. Attending school in a boarding school environment allows children to learn the value of discipline, teamwork, and belongingness while developing a sufficient sense of self. The boarding school setting promotes solidarity. Students share common experiences and develop mutual trust, friendship, collaboration, and honesty, thus forming effective social relationships that may well be carried out into adulthood.
• Both an advantage and a disadvantage: Boarding schools present challenging new environments. Residential campus environments mean long separation periods between parents and children. It can be challenging for newcomers to adjust to their environment, to new schoolmates, and to new teachers. This feeling of abandonment may trigger all kinds of negative emotions like homesickness, frustration, and a sense of displacement, especially with the strict rules and regulations imposed in most boarding schools. However, it may also teach a student adaptation and self-reliance skills.
• Disadvantage: Boarding schools may put children at risk of bad company. Just as sending your children to a boarding school may be good for their social development, choosing a poorly supervised institution may cause them to pick up bad habits from bad company. This may affect their academic engagements and their personal development. This is why it is very important to consider, ever so carefully, the type of boarding school that you should send your child to. There are reliable online resources that you can consult to help you determine which schools is the best fit for your child.
About the author:
This article is written by Margaret Kos, CEO of Best Boarding Schools Worldwide. Best Boarding Schools is a full-service educational service provider. They are guiding students and their families as they seek educational consulting advice to search for best international boarding schools. They contact the families with guardians all over the world. They also offer finding the right tutoring services during the private boarding school placement and college admissions process.
