Patrick Horse goes to boarding school

[Alexander's Horse]

Young Patrick Horse has joined his brothers at boarding school.

His first week is now over. The main news was Kate Banchet's son is boarding at the school with Pat. I'm afraid I don't know his name. He seems to be known as Kate Blanchet's son, let's call him KBS.

Pat claims KBS is one of his new friends. However I fear every boy is claiming KBS as one of his friends. The boy will have to be careful because at boarding school all the boys end up with nicknames which stick for life. He could become KBS.

I know a man whose real name is Iain but he is known as Fred to this day because in his early days at boarding school someone called out "hey Fred, pass the sauce" because they didn't know his name. So Fred became his name.

At the school the boarders are a breed apart. They have secrets and rituals which my other sons only hint at. Apparently Pat has made another friend called Ben, a small boy who follows him around everywhere.

Pat has signed up for guitar and tennis lessons. He already dislikes one of the duty boarding masters. Sounds like things are going pretty well.

[MRT144]

Why would you send your kids to boarding school? Sanity for yourselves?

[Hauldren Collider]

I would have hated boarding school, personally.

[loinburger]

My brother and I both considered going to boarding school, but the deciding factor in favor of public school was cost.

[The Mad Monk]

It's a good place to learn The Facts of Life.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Though not the heterosexual ones.

[Alexander's Horse]

Why would you send your kids to boarding school? Sanity for yourselves?

Partly. Mrs Horse got very sick in 2010. She doesn't cope with them as well anymore. I fear it's too much of a strain on her health. We move around a lot because of my work and it's too painful for the boys to lose friends and have to make new ones every two or three years. Some boys feel that loss quite deeply. My family is in Sydney where they go to school. They are getting lots of time with them, especially my parents who are now getting very old. Where we are living currently doesn't have a good High school. So for all its faults boarding school was a good choice for us. It is a very good school and opening many opportunities for them.

[Jon Miller]

My younger brother went to boarding school the last couple of years of highschool.

It was difficult for my family to afford, and there was a public school nearby, but I think it was a very good thing because of how atrocious that public school was.

His highschool was a coed Christian one, and I am sure that (despite the desires of the adults) plenty of heterosexual activity took place.

JM

[Jon Miller]

The local highschool had the highest pregnancy rate in OR some years (I think). I think less than 50% of my class (which was a high achieving class, unlike years after mine) graduated highschool at the end of 4 years...

JM

[snoopy369]

Boarding school makes sense for a limited subset of the population. I'd say kids of a diplomat, or of a career soldier, are in that subset (given the frequent moves). My wife attended boarding school for high school; she lived in a small town with a football school (ie, a high school that spent more money on the football team than on actual learning). It worked well for her; her brother, a year older, hated it and came back after one year. She was a lot less social than he, and a lot more book-learning, hence the reason I imagine.

[BlackCat]

Just make your son demand be called Horsie Jr because that's what daddy do - should make him popular

[Alexander's Horse]

Yes, well funny you should mention that, because they don't know about my Horse persona.

Boarding school isn't really something we contemplated until it became necessary.

Another category it suits is children in remote or isolated locations. A friend just sent her teenage girls off the island to a boarding school in Texas. They are loving it, signing up for everything, especially sports, which they couldn't do here.

[BlackCat]

Yes, well funny you should mention that, because they don't know about my Horse persona.

I think it's cruel of you to keep your real persona hidden to your own son - he should learn to be proud of his heritage no matter the cost

[Alexander's Horse]

maybe one day they shall find this rich trove of my wit and wisdom, lol

[OneFootInTheGrave]