private schools

[Guest]

I am now an anarchist and someone involved in hard rock music, but I went to private school. People think that's strange. I think I sould tell people here a few things. It was my parents who put me in private school. Same for every other kid in private school. When I was there, I often experienced kids from state schools calling me "posh" and generally treating me badly. So did everyone else in my school. It wasn't all state school pupils obviously, but it happened often and it caused some kids to really think they were different from them and that really state school kids were below them and just jealous. I never fell for that. <br> <br>Another thing I want to say is, although there were never many fights at my school and I got good grades, my life there wasn't great. When I was young, some of the teachers were complete bullies and were prepared to use force. We were too young to do anything about it! There was always a problem that my friends didn't live right near me, like they would've done had i gone to state school. My weekends were usually boring 'til I was in the last few years. If you are an outcast at private school [which I wasn't just for the record], you are the alienated amongst the alienated and you life is complete hell. Also, during my time there, I smoked weed, went out and got drunk, flirted with girls, listened to rebellious music [obviously] and even stole something once. It's not like kids at private school live completely clean lives. I know at least 4 kids from my old school who have been in serious trouble with the law. <br> <br>When I was 16 and looking for a job, I applied for about 6 and got none and I don't know, but I think some employers saw I was a private school boy and thought "he dunt need a job at 16". <br> <br>So I'd like to say that it just is not fair how kids from private school are victimised. I'm fine now, but things weren't always fine then. It's not the fault of the kids that their parents send them to school there, so don't victimise them. They have different problems too!

[Guest]

While I recognize that this may be a big issue in your life... I haven't heard anyone complains specifically about private school students before. <br> <br>But if you want to talk about privelege, then a lot of your arguments start to wash out. Specifically, the relationship between grades or misdemenor crimes AND participation (read: becoming a boss) in the greater system is non-existant. <br> <br>Looking for an example? Look no farther than good old GW. A pampered school boy, sent to the best schools, a drunk, a drug user, convicted. And the result? Nothing but leadership positions, all the way to the top. <br> <br>Aragorn!

[Guest]

Never heard it before! That really does surprise me. Maybe because I'm from one of the most working-class areas of the country [West Yorkshire] there is more of an anti-private school culture. You really did used to wear your uniform in fear when you were getting the bus home, 'cause other schools would recognise the badge and mock you. <br> <br>Your point about George Bush and the advantage rich kids have is granted, but I still plead on you all not to blame children for the crimes of their parents. It is very hard for someone from a rich family to become a freedom fighter [or indeed anything other following in daddy's footsteps]. Like I said I work in rock music and I know someone from a very rich family who became a punk and things weren't pleasant for him.

[oddasudda]

I went to state schools for nine years of my life and learned nothing that I would need for life. Although this was long before I became an anarchist, I began to question arbitrary authority. Soon enough, I was standing up to my teachers and refusing to take their abuse, and I was also getting other kids to boost their self-esteem, as well. Needless to say, I wasn't happy. <br> <br>Thanks to luck and some good grades, a private school offered to accept me with nearly full tuition. It turned out that I wouldn't be spending much more money there than I would be had I stayed at public school. Interestingly enough, it was my choice; my parents raised me in a libertarian fashion. Without fully understanding the consequences, I decided to go. <br> <br>Of course, it changed my life. I discovered that what I had previously viewed as "rich" was nothing compared to what I was to learn to adapt to. In fact, I never truly did fully adapt to it. After being at home for a long time, meeting friends from private school or visiting the school depresses me and can even make me sick to my stomach. In order to deal with the situation, I developed a rather sarcastic sense of humor; the only way to begin to deal with the gaping disparity between myself and my peers was to laugh at it. I still do. <br> <br>You have to understand that many lower-class people that have experience with the elite will obviously harbor anger, contempt, and even hatred. To take that feeling from them would take away what little they have left when dealing with the upper echelons of society. It is a healthy reaction to disillusionment. If I never went to private school, I probably wouldn't be an anarchist right now because I wouldn't fully understand the infinite distance between the rich and the poor. We're talking completely different worlds, here. <br> <br>Despite the fact that I am grateful for the opportunity I received, I still hold deep contempt for the school. People of the upper-class should not be shocked when they feel anger from working-class people. It's a natural reaction, albeit a complex psychological situation. The amount of betrayal, shame, humiliation, pride, hurt, and sadness involved in the realization of disparity certainly are enough to breed complex feelings of contempt. It doesn't mean that all rich people are hated, it just means that most working-people don't trust them, which is perfectly healthy in my opinion.

[Phoebe]

i went to a private school. there was a fairly hard state school just down the road. hard enough for kids from my school to be encouraged not to walk down the road. i was the only kid who seemed to be able to walk down the road and not get shit aparently. anyway, i know a lot of other kids who tried it got mugged and stuff. <br> <br>my personal bother in private school was that it was much more repressive. before the private school i had been going to a really rough school (my local one, the private school was an escape that my parents could only barely afford). and i was crying most days for a few months in the private school just cause they push you really hard "in order to get results". i got pretty good results and i cried and felt worthless cause it still wasn't enough. <br> <br>biggest issue to me with private schools is the vast amount of brainwashing that goes on in them.being told i was worthless if i didn't get all A grades made things difficult for about a year after i left that school. went to a state school for 2 years after that, had good teachers who were fairly liberal, got over it all. <br> <br>(i don't want this to sound like a "being rich sucks" post. being rich is a lot easier than being poor like i am now. regardless of anything psychological, it's easier to deal with personal issues if your finances aren't giving you pressure as well)

[japoulte]

I've gone to state schools all my life and where I live their are lots of private schools. The biggest thing about people from state schools not liking people in private schools is basically the money thing. These are all crass generalisations and no doubt someone will shit on me for saying this but: if you goto state school and you want money you get a job, if you goto private school and you want money you ask mummy and daddy. Now it might just be that I live in a richer area of the country than others and maybe other private school kids aren't as rich as the one's I know. Now the main thing that really pisses people off is that these private school boys use all their free time and money to try and get state school girls. This seriously pisses off state school boys and is probably the biggest source of conflict, (although for some reason private school girls have a reputation of being notoriously easy).

[Phoebe]

it pisses off private school kids on scholarships as well. like when there's a school trip to peru but it's only available to those who can afford 2 grand for it. shit like that. but then scholarship kids are the cool ones who do all the neat shit in art lessons (one did a perfect statue of headmaster carrying a plaque with the words "we don't need your individuality" on it. made the local newspaper and got him an A for his art a-level. hehehehe <br> <br>(most fo the school trips at the place i went to seemed to be like that. except the cadets ones where you join the RAF cadets and pay £20 for a weeks holiday on some boot camp getting "free" plane joyrides and various other shit which is cool just as long as you enjoy the good stuf and don't get too sucked into the military bullshit)

[Guest]

i just switched from an elite private school to a public school. at my private school i had a lot of fnu because people wore uniforms and there werent any divisions really. i mean sure u had the snobby group but i mean for the most part everyoen got along. the punkers would hang out with the preps and so on...it was all about personality. yes the uniforms did strip u of ur indivduality but it also gave me a chance to make some pretty good friends who i prolly would have never met. <br> <br>now that i go to public school i find that there are so many groups. people classify as christian rockers, preps, punkers, emo people...its so stupid. i often find myself going with all group just because i find the people in each group different and cool. i get called a poser...but im not. i can just see people's personality. <br> <br>private school aint that bad. yes you get teased but it also give you another outlook. plus u learn more and then u can use ur knowledge to fight against it.

[Iren]

i went to a boarding school in salzburg for a year. i thought it was great. most of the kids there had rich families and were used to independent living whereas i was not. also, i was very young and everyone else was graduating practically. i appreciate this experience because of the friends i made and the memories, plus seeing salzburg and trying to learn german. i got in trouble a lot, though, for "insubordination", smoking, drinking, i got suspended and eventually got expelled the last week of school. how ironic. well, i just wanted to say that yes, some people are snobby, they think they have more control over you because you live there and oh your parents are too busy to bother with you so you got dumped, and all that crap but i did enjoy my experience because i try to enjoy all that life has for me. that's all i have to say about that. over and out

[myes]

I attend a private boarding school currently. I enjoy it. I am grateful for the opportunity. Private school changed my life. The private school I go to is a rich, liberal, supposedly environmental school. If it weren't for this school, I wouldn't have become an anarchist. State shools squelched my right to think "outside the box". I suppose all schools, even the one I currently attend, squelches individualistic thought. I like the people I attend school with, they are more open minded than most others I have met. I have even managed to start an anarchist group at my school. I don't think private schools are quite as evil as they are made out to be. <br> <br> I supposed currently I would be classified as "the elite". Both of my parents occupy the upper echelons of society. I am an anarchist. I don't plan on following my parent's foot steps. I don't think it's fair to classify kids based on what their parent's do. Some of the most individualistics intellectuals come from privileged backgrounds. You can't judge a child based on what their parents do or earn.

[murrayskeeter]

i went to a boarding school in salzburg for a year. i thought it was great. most of the kids there had rich families and were used to independent living whereas i was not. also, i was very young and everyone else was graduating practically. i appreciate this experience because of the friends i made and the memories, plus seeing salzburg and trying to learn german. i got in trouble a lot, though, for "insubordination", smoking, drinking, i got suspended and eventually got expelled the last week of school. how ironic. well, i just wanted to say that yes, some people are snobby, they think they have more control over you because you live there and oh your parents are too busy to bother with you so you got dumped, and all that crap but i did enjoy my experience because i try to enjoy all that life has for me. that's all i have to say about that. over and out

I also went to a boarding school. I really did have a good time. I learned a lot of things. What I really liked about it is that they have a working plan for ensuring that each child's physical growth is addressed, with exercise and nutrition, and that every human need to grow under positive leadership is also addressed, with teens encouraged to be good leaders and to learn how to work with different types of leadership.

[FirePirate]

Where I used to live State schools werenèt accessible to non-locals. But I went to a Catholic school (please clarify if these are considered a private or public school). I hated the faculty and fucked around a lot, but I had good friends and enjoyed myself. Academically I was average, and I am sure I could have been a lot better had the system been a little different; they forced us to do the work in the most boring classes (note we didnèt have a choice in what classes we wanted to take, everything was fixed before hand) and if someone failed, the school was in no way accountable, and blamed the students for not taking it seriously.
But in comparisson to kids in the private schools, they had it so much better. The work load was close to nothing at all, and most of them spent money like there was no fucking tomorrow. Itès ridiculous how those kids spend.
Also, money was the hardest thing to come by; the law in the city was that nobody under the age of 18 could have a job. And when your living in a city like Dubai, money talks nothing else.
Then in my last few years of high school, me and some friends found a way to bootleg liquor for some cash.
I only became Anarchist after I came to do Univ. here in Canada since information on such things was limited as it is.

Bottom line is that private school kids have it much easier outside of Canada and the US because you can get into college so much more easier because they are more recognized. And without finanicial issues to worry you donèt have to work your ass off for a scholarship.