Should Your Child Go To A Boarding School

When I was young my neighbor’s daughter who was my age mate was sent to live in boarding school but when she came back from school on holiday she was now a different person entirely.  This brings me to the issue of boarding school. Many schools today offer both Day and boarding school. The boarding is made most especially for kids who live extremely far from the school  and who can’t come daily to school from home.

The question is does your child need to go to boarding school?  Well read on and find out my personal opinion about boarding school and why I feel so.

Children are a precious gift that needs to be nurtured by you and no one else. Most parents use boarding school to shy away from their parenting responsibility,perhaps because they are too busy.I remember when I took my first son to write an entrance exam into secondary school, the parents sitting beside me were all discussing about allowing their kids to be a boarding student  so that they can at least rest from their child’s stress, can you imagine that!

Some parents also opt into boarding school because they do not want to leave  their child with the house help while they are out there working, hence they opt in to boarding school as a way out. Other parents argue that the kids need to learn to be independent and that they will be well taken care of in school more than at home since they are hardly at home and for this reason they choose boarding school for their child.

Uh! What an excuse!  Your child is your top most priority and nothing,I mean nothing should take that place not even your job.  You care for your pets and yet your child is too much of a job and you have to push him or her to boarding school?  When a child goes to Day school it gives you an opportunity to bond with your child and know what goes on in his or her life daily. You are able to discuss the challenges he or she face daily and you are able to advice him or her properly and lead  your child in the right direction. When your child is in boarding school you get to see him or her probably during open day or holiday,you have no idea or what is going on in your child’s life especially at this tender age when your child needs you most ,this is the age your child needs to be properly guided and nurtured into a man or woman he or she will become. Then you simply throw this away and leave the child to be guided by his peers or the school who do not know what your values are,think about that!

When a blind man leads a blind man what happens ? They both fall into a ditch! When you leave your child in a boarding school when faced with challenges your child’s first option is to talk to his or her friends and ask them for advice, the friends are also as immature as your child and most times would only lead your child astray with their advice. Even when you hand your child over to a teacher at the school to help you monitor your child ,the truth is no one would ever care for your child the way you would. Sometimes the person you hand over your child to may end up abusing your child without you knowing it.

I will advice you to watch October 1 it is a Nigerian film which showed the experience of two kids who were sent to boarding school and handed over to a clergy man who ended up abusing them in the school unknown to their parents and this negatively affected their lives.  Most of these kids sent to boarding school ends  up living a double live,when they come home on holiday they put up the acceptable character expected from their parents but when they get to school they are an entirely different person .

Though this might not be the case for every child but based on what I have seen and the negative attitude of my neighbors daughter which I mentioned from the onset,I do not advice parents to send their kids to boarding school.  It is your responsibility to take care of your child ,never transfer this role to anyone. Your child is your future investment and how you handle and nurture your child today will determine the future of  your child.