BS experience vs. parental guidance

erlanger
Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:24:24 +0000

I am often considered the contrarian among Prep parents, but that’s okay, because having different perspectives is the point of a site like this. What others negatively call “parental crutch,” I see as something quite valuable and necessary for many, if not most, teenagers. High schooler need support from involved adults–that’s the given–the variable is whether they will get enough of it at the particular BS you are considering. That is only for you to judge, but dig very deeply . . . I believe Exeter and Lawrenceville are more like mini colleges than high schools and you will need to think long and hard about whether your kid is ready to handle it. I believe few are, and with two kids through BS, we didn’t learn about how many kids are NOT getting enough support until they were at school. Summer programs are not at all akin, in my Ds personal experience, because there is not the stress of it “mattering” as well as the length and intensity that makes the school year quite different. I may be negative nelly in this group, but there are plenty of BS kids that do NOT thrive, believe me, and I think lack of adult guidance would be the number one reason for this.