Biased Argument on Boarding school – ‘against’
Most of us remember our childhood as the ‘happiest time of our lives’, making new friends,
wandering the world, creating memories that last a lifetime. Imagine those memories being
isolated from your parents, having no social life, having the same daily routine of studying and
sleeping; these are the memories of children who were forced into going to boarding school,
children who’s ‘happiest’ memories turned into a lifetime of trauma and isolation and anxiety.
Who would want their happiest moments in their life to be stripped away?
Children around the world who have gone to boarding school in their childhood face very
similar mental health conditions due to the harsh and violent conditions of boarding school.
These include PTSD, flashbacks, nightmares, depression, anxiety, all of which, can follow you
throughout your whole life and ruin your chances of being successful or having a social life. A
victim of the ‘un-humane’ idea of boarding school is a well know Chinese-American author, who
had an abusive and violent childhood. In her autobiography “Chinese Cinderella”, Adeline Yen
Mah voices her experiences about her traumatic time at boarding school. “the thought of
leaving school throbbed at the back of my mind like a persistent toothache.” Adeline uses the
idea of isolation and separation in her book about her depressing childhood. In an interview
with Adeline, she mentioned how she ‘regrets not confiding in her friends’ about her dark
childhood that left a ‘permeant scar’ on her.
Adeline is one of the few exceptions who became successful after her ‘scaring’ childhood
trauma of boarding school, many others who attended boarding school aren’t as fortunate as
her, students say they ‘can’t ever recover’ or ‘forget’ their time in boarding school. These
students have memories such as bullying, abuse, anxiety, loneliness throughout their
experience in boarding school. All these combined leads to emotional stress and depression.