Getting the kids into a good school is so important to parents. Maybe it’s because they remember what it was like for them in school. Or perhaps they are living vicariously through their children or maybe they just really want their kids to be awarded every opportunity that life has to offer. If you are considering sending your kids to a private high school or middle school, there are definitely pros and cons to that decision. It may seem like it’s all great and there’s no downside but let’s take a look at both side before you decide that only the benefits of private school education matter.
Advantages
We will look at the benefits of private school education first. There are very many and it’s a great idea. Here is the list of advantages:
- More one and one time with teachers because the classes are smaller. This means that the teachers will be able to focus more on each student and find their strengths and weaknesses. The idea then, is that the strengths will be encouraged and the weaknesses worked on.
- Because of these smaller classes, your kid will likely be noticed quicker if they are particularly good at a specific sport or musical instrument or art technique. They will probably get more opportunity to show case their abilities.
- There will be more of a chance to build a relationship with the teacher. The open and honest relationship between teacher and student is very important to the child’s academic advancement. They need to be able to trust the grown up that they spend all day with and the teacher needs to be able to tolerate them to!
- It’s easier to make friendships with peers when there are less of you. This means less cliques, less bullying and more acceptance and tolerance.
- Although it’s not a proven fact, one of the unspoken benefits of private school education is that it looks better on a college application. Not because the children are ‘privileged’ or wealthy but because private school education is thought to be held to a higher standard than public school education.
Disadvantages
Although all of the benefits of private school education sound fantastic, you need to make sure you are seeing both sides of the coin here.
- Children are held to a higher standard at private schools, this is true. One of the problems with this is that they are not allowed to fail where they are safe. Being able to make mistakes regarding character and personality while at home and school is very important because there are loving parents and teachers to help you back up if you fall. In private schools, the kids are prevented from making mistakes and often times, waste their college years making up for it.
- Private schools are extremely expensive and don’t offer many scholarships. If you’re able to come up with the money then that’s great but your child may be made fun of if they find out he or she doesn’t come from wealth.
- If you did have to struggle to get the money together for school, you can tend to panic when they get a bad grade and instead of helping them through, you end up getting angry at them and expect perfection from them. This can put a lot of strain on the parent/child relationship.
- It’s possible that children can become a little snobby and intolerant of those who do not go to prestigious schools. This will make it difficult when they enter the work force where there are so many different kinds of people. It’s important to teach our kids that it doesn’t matter how much or little money someone has, where they come from, what they do and how they look; we are to love and care for everyone around us. If kids start to get a ‘better than you’ attitude when they are young, it can be difficult to break them from that habit.
- It can be a pretty extensive and difficult process when you are trying to get accepted at a private school and if your child gets their hopes up when you apply, their hopes get dashed and their confidence takes a hit if they are rejected.
Is it worth it? You decide.
