NATIONAL BOARDING WEEK (22 – 28 June 2020)
We, a growing group of healthcare professionals, can see no reason to celebrate National Boarding Week, but instead we would like to highlight the damage to the health and well-being of young children that can be caused by sending them to boarding school.
The adverse psychological and social effects of this practice are well documented. This evidence should be acknowledged and the time is surely right to ‘follow the science’.
During the current worldwide pandemic, all parents are now weighing up the benefits and risks of sending their children back to school. For most parents this relates to a 6-hour day but parents of children at boarding schools have to consider that their children are at school for 24 hours a day.
In the UK we can see the impact of a culture that is fostered in boarding schools and is very apparent in social and political contexts. This culture is one that values the social status of a privileged education above the emotional security and healthy development of young children.
Sam Barber, Director BSConcern
Frances Basset, Psychotherapist
Thurstine Basset, Author
Nick Duffell, Psychotherapist and Author
Pippa Foster, Psychotherapist
Marcus Gottlieb, Psychotherapist
Darrel Hunneybell, Psychotherapist
Gordon Knott, Director Youth Counselling Service
Margaret Laughton, Director BSConcern
Sam Milford, Psychotherapist
Nicola Miller, Psychotherapist
Alex Renton, Journalist and Author
Joy Schaverien, Psychoanalyst and Author
Allison Ujejski, Director BSConcern
Sara Warner, Psychotherapist