by Emily Beyer

Created on: October 29, 2008

A lot of people think of private school as a place where academia is of extreme importance and behavior is key to thriving. As one who attended both public and private this misconception disturbs me. I have found that it is on a rare occasion that a private school has more advantages than a private school. There are quite a few reasons that parents make the decision to go with private over public. These can include social protection, the belief that a child will be sheltered and academic/disciplinary reasons. There can certainly be pro's and con's to these.

It is very true that sometimes certain children just don't fit in to a secular atmosphere. One definite plus to private school is that the children there are generally not as mean spirited and willing to bully. However, in my opinion it is better for the child to learn how to cope with it at a younger age. Another is the idea of being sheltered. Granted, there is the idea that there aren't as many sexually active swearing/gothic kids in a private school setting. I found that since teachers and parents aren't assuming the kids are getting away with such adolescent transgressions the children can in fact get away with them easier knowing they have their superiors trust. Unfortunately there are just as many "bad things" going on in private school; it is simply harder to see.

Academia is one of the foundations for the rest of a child's life. Certain private schools offer a wide variety of studies which can be more difficult and fulfilling than public school. The programs make up about 5% of the private school population. Teachers in private school are much more willing to let things slide and half of the time do not even possess actual teaching degrees. For example, a teacher can come to a school with a degree in engineering yet teach all science classes. Certainly, they know the information but that does not matter if they can't actually teach the material. Unfortunately, this happens a lot. In addition, private schools usually do not offer the same amount of classes as public. They focus on the core subjects and bible classes instead.

Although I have illustrated the discrepancies in the private school systems, I would also like to note that I loved private school. I had a lot of friends who I could get away with things with and my classes were all passed with flying colors, even though I believe I that I did not get a quality education. My last year of high school was spent in public school, which was a complete reality check for me. It was difficult and socially overwhelming. Even now I find myself to be shy and unable to be forward with people who aren't already my friends. If I child stays in such a setting for as long as I did, it is hard to adjust to "real life." There are not always going to be people covering your child's ears and carrying them away from mean people. They need to learn to deal with it as society is not (unfortunately) getting any nicer. As long as you take an active role in providing love and structure, your child will thrive in public school rather than be forced to stop growing in private.

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