Achieving School Goals: Boarding Benefits--Inter-personal Relations
Figure 1.-- One of the important benefits coming from are the strong interpersonal relations that develop as a result of living together in a community with other children. Boarders commonly make close friendships. Living together in the dormitories is another important experience. Children in boarding schools learn to shasre and often build an important sense of community.
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One of the important benefits coming from are the strong interpersonal relations that develop as a result of living together in a community with other children.
The children od course don't choose their own roommates. They're assigned by the dorm staff. New children will likely meet his or her roommate when they first arrivev.
This presents a challenge for new students. They have to learn how to live and get on with other children who are strangers. This is probably the aspect of boarding that causes the most worry among beginning bosrders.
And the beginning children are quite young, the dorm staff are normally able to iron out any problems without too much difficulties.
Subsequently of course the children all know each other except for the children joining the school at an older age.
Boarders commonly make close friendships.
Many former boarding school students often report that the friendships they form are very important. Often it is the friendships the children form in their senior schools that they remember better, but that is not to say that prep school friendships are not very important to a vhild's development.
Many have gone to school with each other for several years, perhaps 5 years. Even more if the school has a pre-prep. At school the children have many opportunituies to do things togrther, both academic and non-asademic program activities. And of course they have been able to just have fun together. Living together in the dormitories is another important experience. Children in boarding schools learn to shasre and often build an important sense of community. Other social bernefits are increased independence, self-reliance, and social awareness. The boarding schools insist that these character traits can best be inculcated in a boarding environment, partially explaing why so many schools incourage the children, especially the senior children, to board.
