<p>So I've been curious about what really goes on at coed boarding schools.
Alcohol? Drugs? Sex?
How different is coed boarding than single-sex?
More fun? Less fun? Harder to focus? Easier?
Any experiences?
Worst/best experience?
Are girls and guys close or are they more separate?</p>
<p>Just anything in general you'd like to share that the school may not say.</p>
<p>This is usually a sensitive subject regarding many boarding schools – more specifically, New England boarding schools.
As a graduate of one of the NE schools, I’ll try to take a stab at the subject. Before I begin, I want to note that I will be making several generalizations based on what I have read on other schools, my own experiences, and reports from friends attending schools other than the one I attended.</p>
<p>–Drugs/Alcohol/Sex–</p>
<p>Yes, consumption of alcohol and usage of drugs are regularly found within the boundaries of many boarding schools. Of course, school administrations prohibit illicit use of drugs and alcohol; however, many students deliberately ignore safety rules and consume substances in either the nearby towns or in their own residential houses. A simple search on Google will expose numerous articles regarding prep school drug/alcohol use (Andover had a huge drug bust years back; A Choate student was discovered to have possession of cocaine). In short, there will always be a small student group participating in illicit activities. But don’t fret, they will always be the minority. </p>
<p>Sex, on the other hand, is inevitable. These are residential high schools filled with pubescent students! There will always be a ‘hook-up’ scene, especially during school dances and interschool events. The experience is like any other high school in the US. However, there have been publicized incidents of sexual abuse in several schools. The school administrations always put efforts into preventing sexual encounters among students (i.e. proctored dances, dorm checkups, ‘roaming’ teachers, etc). </p>
<p>–How different is coed boarding than single-sex?–</p>
<p>I have never visited single-sex schools or have friends attending them. I will leave this question unanswered as I do not have experience or evidence to provide detailed insight.</p>
<p>–More fun? Less fun? Harder to focus? Easier?–</p>
<p>I would say it’s much more fun to attend a coed school. You get to meet a wide variety of people instead of a narrowed-down student body. And yes, it’s quite easy to focus unless one has a serious problem with being educated together with the opposite sex. </p>
<p>–Are girls and guys close? Or are they separate?–</p>
<p>Based upon my experiences and those of my friends in other schools – yes, they are quite close. One can get along very well with students of the opposite gender. It’s simply a matter of social life. I would like to add that cliques exist in boarding schools. I would say it’s like any other regular American high school experience. </p>
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<p>I hope I answered all your questions regarding boarding schools. If you need any advice or if you have additional inquiries, feel free to PM me. </p>
<p>Sex and drugs do go on at school. Just last week, a girl and a guy were suspended for 3 days for having sex in the student center bathroom. There are kids who smoke cigars, and vapor things, but my school takes it very seriously. We were just named one of the top 30 christian boarding schools in the country, and Saint James takes this very seriously. all schools are different. Sh-t does happen. Life is still life. But I’ve had so much fun, it’s unreal. I would recommend boarding school to anyone who can spend time away from home. </p>
<p>I would say 5-10% of my school does stuff like hookup, drink alcohol, and do drugs. The truth is the only people who really date are day students, with a few exceptions. Schools are generally very strict with this kind of stuff and each year a handful of students get expelled for cheating, drinking alcohol, and drugs. (I have never heard of a situation where people got expelled for having sex but that may be the case as well) For the most part the boarders see each other too much and it ruins having a long-term relationship. Whenever people do have sex, it’s usually far away from any dorms or academic classrooms and on more random places such as the farout grass. I’d say it’s nice and a lot more fun having a coed school but gender stereotypes are more enforced in the classroom. Yes, guys and girls definitely are close. At some schools people can’t visit the dorms of the opposite sex at all, some schools have an “open door” policy where students must have the door open and light on at all times if they have a member of the opposite gender in their room. And some schools allow students to close the door with the opposite gender. </p>