Nowadays many people in the UK send their children to public schools. With public schools, I am referring to so called boarding school, which are schools where one can send one’s child to both live and go to school. At the age of 8, many parents send their children away to these schools with the knowledge that one might only see them once or twice a month. What are the arguments for and against sending away one’s child to a school like this when there are state schools? And in addition, what am I in favour of – a public school or a state school?

The arguments for sending one’s child away to a boarding school are first of all that it might help one’s child develop faster. In terms of being away from one’s family, there are no doubts one has to get more independent. This may be an advantage later in life with respect to work and education. One is also more likely to get a better education if one has attended a boarding school. Boarding schools are very expensive, so practically everybody that has attended a school like this is from upper class families. It practically goes without saying that children from upper class families have a better reputation. Therefore, if one has attended a boarding school, it is often a sign that one is from an upper class family. In addition, there might be troubled families that send their children away so that they are being spared for the trouble at home.

On the other hand, a child at the age of 8 is too young to be sent away from its family. A child at that age still needs its mum and dad to take care of and love him or her. It is not enough to see them once or twice a month, because a child at that age needs its parents. It does a lot to one’s psyche to be sent away at that age with the knowledge that one’s parents have done this deliberately – maybe they are tired of taking care of me, so sending me to a boarding school is a good option, one may think. The latter one might influence one’s own life with respect to developing a relationship with other people in the future, in terms of being neglected as a child.

To conclude, I would say I am in favour of a state school. A boarding school may be an advantage in terms of further education but, as mentioned, it does a lot to one’s psyche. I may be so bold to say that there are no questions whether or not I am in favour of a public school or a state school, there is only a question of what I appreciate the most – love and happiness, or education and status? To support this statement, going to a state school means one has a lot of time with one’s family and to grow up with people who love one, hence one is more likely to be happy. Going to public school, on the other hand, means that one does not have people who love you as a son or daughter. Even though a public school implicates an easier way to the best universities and status, there is no way that could be a substitute for everything else one loses.