It’s a myth that day-school students are more disciplined than boarding-school-students.Given the nature of jobs of both the parents and the emergence of nuclear families, it is difficult to monitor the lifestyle of a child these days.As a result, the child may fall prey to the evils of social media, poor eating habits etc. But a child in a good boarding school is away from all this and enjoys everything in moderation and supervision.The life of a student is highly regulated and monitored at in most reputed boarding school. Right from morning till lights out at night, it is by the clock. They end up being more responsible and focused on things and look after each other well. The camaraderie that they build in a boarding school lasts a lifetime and they make friends that they can bank upon for support. If the boundaries and consequences are well defined, most of the students will respect that line.
While there are what we call legacy boarding schools in India, the last 20 years or so we have witnessed the entry of quite a few impressive boarding schools. A parent should first identify the reason for sending their child to a boarding school.
Sending a child to a boarding school is a very big decision for any parent. In our view, a parent should thoroughly investigate all the factors & the credentials of a boarding school based on the following multiple parameters: academics, reputation, infrastructure and facilities, and pastoral care. The short-listing of schools can be done based on what one wants (co-ed or single-sex, religious or secular, national curriculum or international curriculum, location and a host of other factors). This requires a disciplined approach, time and patience to get the right information, perspectives and insights to take the right decision, which will be in the interest of the child and not just based on the aspirations of the parent.