We need to be realistic about what is involved with sending a kid away to boarding school. First - The academic year is about 30 weeks. This leaves 22 weeks (14 weeks in the summer) of pure 100% devoted family time, without homework, extra-curricular activities, sports, sleep-overs at a friends houses, playing video games, or other generic “hanging out with friends” that most kids do if you choose to.
Consider the scenario of the stay-at-home student who spends a lot of time after school at an activity and then hours in their room getting homework done, and then texting/talking with friends in their spare time. They are not spending hours playing monopoly with the family, especially if they wanted to go to boarding school in the first place.
So, are we really “sending our kids away”? I would argue that there is an opportunity for more quality time with our kids during breaks and the summers compared to those families who choose to have kids stay at home only to never see them because they are wrapped up in non-family obligations and are looking forward to going away in the summer.