Public school vs. Private school

Blockhead

Thank you for all the replies.
No matter how good of a parent you are (involved) your child is still going to be influenced by the enviroment around them. So I want to make sure that I am also making not only an education decision formy children but also a enviroment decision as well. There seems to be a more structured enviroment/participation/involved parents (in this area) than in the public school area.

Blockhead

cincybearcat wrote:

Jeanwah wrote:

cincybearcat wrote:

To me, placing a kid in a private school places them squarely in a clique from day 1.

This is so not true.

Feel free to expand upon that.

I have been in both systems. It's just my opinion.

I agree and disagree. I wenth to both Cathilic grade school and hight school and I only maintained friendships with the people that went to public school. So no clique for me.
But what I really see is PARENTS seem to form the cliques and their children follow suit. Especially parents of kids who play sports.

Jeanwah

cincybearcat wrote:

Jeanwah wrote:

cincybearcat wrote:

To me, placing a kid in a private school places them squarely in a clique from day 1.

This is so not true.

Feel free to expand upon that.

I have been in both systems. It's just my opinion.

You made a generalization. From your experience, perhaps that's the case. But not in all private school cases. That's my point.

Jeanwah

keeponrockin wrote:

Jeanwah wrote:

keeponrockin wrote:

Disagree completely.

Feel free to expand on that. I didn't go to public school, so tell me which subject and/or in which regard that kindness and empathy are taught.

Kindness and empathy weren't taught as direct lessons, but through examples set by teachers and other leaders of the school. One of the best men I know, Andrew Costello, was my highschool teacher and lead by example, instead of yelling at kids who were bullying he'd often take them aside to discuss it with them, etc.. Many other teachers did the same.

You had some great teachers, that's awesome.

pandora

HeidiJam wrote:

Thank you for all the replies.
No matter how good of a parent you are (involved) your child is still going to be influenced by the enviroment around them. So I want to make sure that I am also making not only an education decision formy children but also a enviroment decision as well. There seems to be a more structured enviroment/participation/involved parents (in this area) than in the public school area.

So you want your children influenced then by religion and to have it be a big influence in their environment?
In my mind it is a bad example to then not have it be in yours. If your kids are expected to walk the walk shouldn't you and your wife?

Blockhead

pandora wrote:

HeidiJam wrote:

Thank you for all the replies.
No matter how good of a parent you are (involved) your child is still going to be influenced by the enviroment around them. So I want to make sure that I am also making not only an education decision formy children but also a enviroment decision as well. There seems to be a more structured enviroment/participation/involved parents (in this area) than in the public school area.

So you want your children influenced then by religion and to have it be a big influence in their environment?
In my mind it is a bad example to then not have it be in yours. If your kids are expected to walk the walk shouldn't you and your wife?

I didn't mean "religion"environment, I meant, the community as a whole.

redrock

Jeanwah wrote:

The advantage Catholic schools have is that they teach kindness and empathy, because that was what Jesus was about. Something that is definitely not taught in public schools.

I would disagree with that too. I went to catholic schools and none of that was 'taught'. I was taught rules and even possibly intransigence.

My daughter went to a church primary school - not a private one - only because it was the closest to home. Not a catholic one (which I had close to home as well) but to a Church of England one which, contrary to the catholic school, accepted children of all (or none) faith though one had to accept that there would be faith based assemblies (again all faiths - eg talking about Easter, Diwali, etc.) and a few christian celebrations at the church (nativity at Christmas, harvest, etc.). The vicar came in once a week.

Even with what could seem an 'open' view to various faiths, I was called in a couple of times when my daughter 'questioned' things (as one can question when you are 5!). For example she questioned the fact that Jesus was son of god, god as a male, and the 'virgin' Mary (seeing she knew about the facts of life). She wasn't happy when she was told she just had to accept the 'word' as it was and it was not for us mere mortals to question these and she protested.

If I had a non faith based primary school near home, I would have chosen that. Faith schools don't teach openness and acceptance - on the contrary.

One advantage of her going to this school as opposed to driving to get her to a non faith school, is that it IS the neighbourhood school, literally a two minute walk from home (walking slowly), which meant that not only did the kids belong to the school community, it was also their neighbourhood community. Same with the parents (well... more the mothers). A much tighter community spirit that goes beyond the school playground.

pandora

HeidiJam wrote:

pandora wrote:

HeidiJam wrote:

Thank you for all the replies.
No matter how good of a parent you are (involved) your child is still going to be influenced by the enviroment around them. So I want to make sure that I am also making not only an education decision formy children but also a enviroment decision as well. There seems to be a more structured enviroment/participation/involved parents (in this area) than in the public school area.

So you want your children influenced then by religion and to have it be a big influence in their environment?
In my mind it is a bad example to then not have it be in yours. If your kids are expected to walk the walk shouldn't you and your wife?

I didn't mean "religion"environment, I meant, the community as a whole.

Oh I see what you are saying and you probably got my drift even though I misunderstood your meaning.
As an involved parent in a Catholic school, if you choose that avenue,
you would then need to participate in your religion.
I should say,
if you plan on being an involved parent, wanting the best for your children you would
want to participate, show a good example. Otherwise it would be a contradiction.

81

Cosmo wrote:

Here is my personal experience... and maybe those who actually went to Catholic School can offer up a different story. PLEASE... I'm not saying all Catholic girls are slutty... just the ones I knew.
When I was in High School... public High School... here is what I learned about the Catholic Schools in the area I grew up in (Glendale/Eagle Rock):
The girls were pretty loose and the guys were good fighters. Not all, but, more than the ones in my High School.
The girls also drank way more than they should have... which made them looser and they really wanted out of those uniforms. That's why we would hang out at the burger joint near the Catholic High School... to meet girls.
...
Also... the girls that were folded into my school (which was grades 7-12) in the 8th grade were more on the slutty side. And the guys coming in (that we didn't know from Little League or pick-up games of football at the park) wanted to fight everyone. Again, not all... but, it seemed like a lot.
Maybe it had something to do with the uniforms or the mean Nuns or the 'Catholic Guilt' or the strict discipline or the 1970s... but, that was my experience.

religion is all about fighting.

my gf is baptist and went to a catholic school. no biggie on the religion side of it.

Jeanwah

redrock wrote:

Jeanwah wrote:

The advantage Catholic schools have is that they teach kindness and empathy, because that was what Jesus was about. Something that is definitely not taught in public schools.

I would disagree with that too. I went to catholic schools and none of that was 'taught'. I was taught rules and even possibly intransigence.

My daughter went to a church primary school - not a private one - only because it was the closest to home. Not a catholic one (which I had close to home as well) but to a Church of England one which, contrary to the catholic school, accepted children of all (or none) faith though one had to accept that there would be faith based assemblies (again all faiths - eg talking about Easter, Diwali, etc.) and a few christian celebrations at the church (nativity at Christmas, harvest, etc.). The vicar came in once a week.

Even with what could seem an 'open' view to various faiths, I was called in a couple of times when my daughter 'questioned' things (as one can question when you are 5!). For example she questioned the fact that Jesus was son of god, god as a male, and the 'virgin' Mary (seeing she knew about the facts of life). She wasn't happy when she was told she just had to accept the 'word' as it was and it was not for us mere mortals to question these and she protested.

If I had a non faith based primary school near home, I would have chosen that. Faith schools don't teach openness and acceptance - on the contrary.

In the teachings of Jesus Christ, how can a Catholic school not teach what Jesus was about? Please explain. Any kid going to religious ed. learns that Jesus was a healer, teacher and was kind to all. Otherwise, what kind of Catholic school did you go to?

ETA: After re-reading this, perhaps everyone takes something different with from what they've learned from school. Redrock possibly remembered rules and intransigence, where remember the good things about what was taught.

redrock

Jeanwah wrote:

In the teachings of Jesus Christ, how can a Catholic school not teach what Jesus was about? Please explain. Any kid going to religious ed. learns that Jesus was a healer, teacher and was kind to all. Otherwise, what kind of Catholic school did you go to?

Some of the best. The catholic religion is not all about turning the other cheek when you get slapped on the right. Just read the bible. It's exclusive and there is just as much retribution and punishment as there is 'healing & kindness'.

But I guess the catholic religion per se is not the subject of the thread but rather would the OP put his children in a school where education is perceived as better but goes against what he may buy into.

"Me and my wife are no longer religious and do not want to give money to the church, and have our children indoctrinated. I feel it would be very hyproctirical to send our kids to cahtolic schools and not belive in the overall message. It could also be a hard issue for our children as we would not go to church and I can see the other kids asking why/ parents being judgmental, and overall really not fitting in, as i know from experience on how catholics around that area act."

cincybearcat

Jeanwah wrote:

cincybearcat wrote:

Feel free to expand upon that.

I have been in both systems. It's just my opinion.

You made a generalization. From your experience, perhaps that's the case. But not in all private school cases. That's my point.

Oh shit...there I go again giving my opinion based on my personal experiences!!!! Damn me!!!

Wait...wasn't that what the OP was asking for?

And what I was referring to was a lack of true diversity at some of those private schools.

tinkerbell

We don't have any private schools in my town (and very few nationwide). I had the option to send my daughter to 4 different schools, one of which is a Catholic Public school which my nephew attends. We chose to send our daughter to an Enviro School as it sat best with our views. I had issues with the Catholic school as we are atheists and didn't want our children to be exposed to their teachings. It is a very personal (family) thing choosing a school and the main issues are really whether you would be comfortable with your children asking religious questions and if you could commit to attending mass on Easter & Christmas (as most catholic schools expect this), I personally couldn't do that so that automatically ruled out the catholic school here for us.